


Calling, Calling You

by Notadream



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, except maybe ruby idk, season 1 rewrite, slightly OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-09-06 15:57:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 42,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20294122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notadream/pseuds/Notadream
Summary: The world is wide, but it’s fate that we will definitely find each otherIt’s like we’re playing hide-and-seek---------------------------------------------------------Chika’s a regular girl inspired by a new dream, but while she navigates her pathway to school idol stardom and her relationship with a hesitant pianist, other stories collide with hers: a shy bookworm rekindling her relationship with a fallen angel she once knew, a student council president butting heads with a popular diver, and an affluent girl desperately trying to get her best friend back. Sometimes it feels like everyone’s running in different directions, but Chika’s fairly certain that they’ll arrive at the same destination: Love Live.A season one rewrite that actually ends in the girls falling in love. Will focus mostly on DiaYou, YohaMaru, and KanaMari





	1. I WANT TO SHINE

Chika hadn’t ever felt this way before.

Sure, she had felt bursts of inspiration in the past. But those usually faded with time, disappearing until she could hardly recall the feeling of motivation in the first place. One of these times was, while watching You dive, she decided that she would become a diver herself.

It only took one trial run with You for her to discover that, no, she really wasn’t that interested at all.

So, for the majority of her life, Chika remained mostly unmotivated. She glided through school like a tube floating down a lazy river, not fretting too badly about her marks. She socialized with her peers, but she didn’t particularly stand out amongst them. To be truthful, if Chika didn’t exist, she didn’t believe it would leave much of a lasting impact on the people around her.

And then her life flipped.

“Whoa,” she muttered under her breath, her hands empty of the posters that had flown out of her hands. She wasn’t even angry; she was too enraptured by what was playing on the screen in front of her. “Love Live?”

“Chika, there you are!” a voice called, and Chika could hear footsteps, but only distantly, as if they were on the outer edge of her consciousness. She was too amazed by the girls on the screen, dancing and singing, dressed in cutesy dresses.

They looked beautiful.

“Jeez, you could at least respond when someone’s talking to you,” the gray-haired girl said, now standing beside Chika. “And where did all of the posters you collected go? We need to return them to that girl.”

“You, look,” Chika said quietly.

“What?” You followed her friend’s gaze, surprised by what she was looking at. “School Idols? I didn’t know you were interested in that sort of thing.”

This snapped Chika out of her daze, and she immediately directed all of her attention onto You, who stepped backwards.

“School Idols? What’s that?” Chika asked excitedly, her interest piqued. You scratched the back of her neck.

“Have you been living under a rock? They’ve been all the rave recently,” You explained, shrugging. “It’s not really my thing, but a lot of people like it. Nothing beats teenage girls in revealing outfits I guess.”

“I think it’s cool!” Chika beamed, her eyes darting back to the large screen. “They all look so magical!”

“I guess,” You said, sounding unsure. “Regardless, we better head back. You can look up School Idols when you get home.”

Chika did exactly as You had advised, and stayed up into the wee hours of the morning surfing the internet. She clicked about a thousand links, scouring the web for articles, videos, images, anything she could get her hands on that was free.

“Moose?” Chika read off the screen, clicking onto an idol group’s webpage. Their name was actually _Muse, _but that was the last thing on Chika’s mind as she started clicking on some of their videos.

And before she knew it, she had stayed up until dawn watching all of their content.

“Join the School Idol club! Live out your wildest dreams!” Chika shouted into the megaphone, perched on top of the wooden box she had snagged from the gym when nobody was looking. You was standing on the ground next to her, holding the sign that Chika had made.

“It’s going to be tons of fun!” You shouted, before sighing when none of the students bothered looking her way. “This is a bit of a bust. Also, this sign says ‘School Idol Culb,’ you do realize that?”

Chika either ignored her or just plain didn’t hear her. She was too busy shouting encouraging things into the megaphone in order to attract the attention of her peers. Now that starting a School Idol group was on her mind, there was no way she could not pursue it.

Of course, she quickly realized that forming an idol group required members other than herself.

“Jeez, my throat’s getting sore,” Chika muttered, hopping off the box and taking a swig from You’s water bottle.

“I can take over, if you want,” You offered. She didn’t have an interest in being a School Idol, but she did want to help Chika at least attempt to make a School Idol club. She wasn’t too concerned if it fell through, either. Chika usually didn’t mind all that much when her spur-of-the-moment passions didn’t work out.

“No, it’s fine. I want to keep going!” Chika said with a grin. If this was going to be her first obstacle in being a School Idol, then so be it.

You was slightly caught off guard by her best friend’s persistence, but relented with a smile.

“That’s great,” she said genuinely. “Maybe we should start picking out people from the crowd? That would be a good way to actually rope someone in.”

“You’re right, You!” Chika agreed, her eyes scanning her surroundings. A lot of students had cleared out, but she noticed two first years walking by, one a brunette and the other with striking red hair. “Alright! I’ve locked onto my target!”

You saluted. “Go get ‘em, captain!”

Chika darted over to where the first years were. The less than subtle approach guaranteed that they wouldn’t be able to get away, but her sudden presence seemed to spoke the redhead, for she jumped in fright and then hid behind her friend.

“O-Oh, hello there,” the brunette said. Chika grinned, flashing her pearly whites at the first years, who were clearly bothered by her sudden interjection into their conversation.

“Hiya! I’m Chika Takami, and I’m starting up a School Idol club!” She showed them the poster she had made, filled with colorful doodles and ‘BECOME A STAR’ written in thick block letters.

This seemed to garner the redhead’s interest. She peered around her friend’s back, trying to desperately get a closer look at the poster.

“School Idol?” the brunette repeated, her brow furrowed in concentration. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“They’re like idols, but in school!” Chika said plainly. Anyone could have observed that, but this explanation seemed to impress the brunette anyways.

“Wow, that’s so cool!” she chirped. “Ruby, now that I think about it, don’t you like School Idols?”

Ruby didn’t respond, and instead kept her eyes locked on the poster in Chika’s hand. Internally Chika grinned wolfishly; she recognized that expression. That girl was school idol potential.

“Umm, why are you smiling like that?” the brunette asked, and Chika quickly realized she was making that expression externally as well.

“Oh, no reason,” Chika said sheepishly. “Anyways, you guys can hold onto the poster, if you want. I’d love for you to join the club.”

“Oh, I don’t really know if that’s my thing,” the brunette said. “I’m Hanamaru, by the way. This is my friend Ruby. Being a School Idol is probably more up her alley.”

Chika’s eyes sparkled.

“Really, Ruby?” she said excitedly, inching closer towards the unsuspecting redhead. “You would make a great addition to the team! I can see it now: the cute ace of, um, insert idol group name, Ruby!”

Ruby, realizing that she was being addressed, looked up at Chika, pure terror in her eyes.

“Oh no,” Hanamaru said, moving quickly to cover her ears with her hands.

Before Chika could even question what was happening, Ruby abruptly screamed, right next to Chika’s ear. This sent a wave of pain rolling through the girl’s head, and she stumbled backwards, caught off guard by the sudden screech.

“Holy cow, what was that?” Chika said. Ruby was now blushing a deep crimson.

“Ruby is kind of shy,” Hanamaru tried to explain.

Ruby squealed again, albeit this time much quietly, and then darted off towards the school. Before Hanamaru could call after her, something rustled in the tree next to them.

To make matters even stranger, a girl who the others hadn’t noticed fell out of the tree, landing painfully onto her feet.

“Ow!” she cried, chewing her lip in an attempt to hold in her emotions. Her knees took the brunt of the impact, so she was standing awkwardly.

“Whoa, where did you come from? And do you want to join the School Idol club?” Chika asked, undeterred.

“S-School Idol?” the girl replied, her teeth gritted. Clearly she was in a lot of pain, but Chika was totally oblivious. “Ah, that hurt.”

“Why were you in the tree in the first place?” Hanamaru asked, genuinely confused.

“I…I was getting a gauge of my fellow peers,” the girl said, sounding unsure herself. Hanamaru scrunched up her nose.

“That’s weird,” she said.

“No it’s not!” the girl countered angrily, before wincing. “Ouchie! My knees.”

“Falling out a tree will do that to a person,” Chika said, not sounding particularly sympathetic. “Now, back to School Idols-“

“Wait a minute, Yoshiko?” Hanamaru said, walking closer towards the tree-girl to get a better look.

“Y-Yoshiko? It’s Yoha-” the girl stopped herself, looking oddly guilty for a moment, before she continued. “N-No, you got it all wrong! That’s not me!” She followed it with an awkward chuckle, leaving Hanamaru unconvinced.

“No way, you look just like her,” Hanamaru said, frowning in concentration. “Hmm, rock, paper, scissors!”

“Scissors!” Yoshiko joined in, the game compelling her to play. Yoshiko chose scissors while Hanamaru went with rock, and the brunette smirked proudly.

“Aha! You are Yoshiko! I could never forget that scissors,” Hanamaru said, looking at the strange way Yoshiko stuck out her index and ring fingers. “Do you remember me? I’m Hanamaru. We went to kindergarten together.”

“Ha-na-ma-ru?” Yoshiko drew each syllable out slowly, like she had just been taught the concept. Something flashed in her eyes, but instead of replying, Yoshiko sprinted towards the school, her feet slamming against the pavement. “I gotta go!”

“Y-Yoshiko? Wait!” Hanamaru called, dashing after the blue-haired girl. This left Chika standing alone, a worn out expression on her face.

“What about School Idols?” she muttered.

“Well, that went well,” You said, walking over from where she had observed everything next to the box. “Those three were weird.”

“Maybe so, but I can see idol potential in each one of them!” Chika said determinedly.

“Really?” You said. “Well, you’re the resident expert. We’ll just have to run into them later.”

“We have encountered three candidates!” Chika said proudly, sticking a fist into her air. “I’d call this a success! Woohoo!”

“A success?” somebody repeated. Chika and You twirled around to see a raven haired girl standing there, the poster Chika could have sworn she was just showing Ruby in her hand.

“Oh crap,” You said, paling rapidly as she desperately tried to hide behind Chika. “I hope she didn’t see me, I hope she didn’t see me…”

“Hi! Are you new here?” Chika asked, and You wished that the earth below her would just swallow her whole.

“No you idiot, she’s the student council prez!” You whispered harshly.

“No way,” Chika said, immediately impressed. She didn’t even have the grade qualifications to apply for the student council, let alone be the president. “You’re the president!”

“That I am. And you can quit hiding behind her back, Watanabe, because one, I already saw you, and two, I heard you whispering to her,” the raven haired girl said pointedly.

You slunk out behind Chika sheepishly, wearing a goofy smile.

“Oh, Dia, I didn’t even see you there,” she said, even though she had already been caught.

“No way, you two know each other?” Chika asked.

“You could say we’re well acquainted,” You said.

Dia dropped her arm holding the poster and looked over at You sharply.

“I don’t think those are the words I’d use,” she said.

“Wow, you learn something new every day! Who knew you guys were buddies?” Chika chirped happily, not reading into the situation at all. “Anyways, were you interested in joining the School Idol club, Dia? A third year would add such maturity!”

Dia blinked.

“Let’s speak further about this in the student council room.”

“Ah jeez, she totally ripped us a new one!” Chika said as her and You walked towards their first class. “How was I supposed to know that forming a new club required five members?”

“It says it on the piece of paper,” You deadpanned, resting the back of her head on her palms.

“And she started yelling at you, too,” Chika pointed out, confused. You shuddered, recalling the memory.

_“You need to smarten up, Watanabe! You’re the ace of the school’s swim team, and as such, I trust you to exhibit good behavior and good behavior only! Pulling childish pranks completely counters that image! And there’s no way you have time for these School Idol shenanigans! Have some self-respect.”_

“I pulled this dumb prank last year,” You began, reluctant to even recall the memory. “You know how we have that student resources thing on the Uranohoshi website?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Chika asked, not being a frequent user of it herself.

“I changed the links so that instead of directing to tutorials and answer keys, it instead took people to meme pages,” You said, looking rather smug.

“No way, that was you?” Chika cried, everything rushing back to her. It had been a huge fiasco that had driven a majority of the teachers crazy. “I didn’t realize you were so good with computers, You!”

“I’m not really. The security they have set up sucks; it wasn’t that hard to hack into the website and change some things,” You said.

“You should change it so it directs to School Idol pages! Maybe that’ll inspire some of the students!”

“No,” You said plainly. “Anyways, I felt bad about it since it had blown up so epically, so I turned myself in. Dia’s practically hated my guts since.”

Chika definitely didn’t consider You a rebellious student. She was kind to all of her peers, usually did her homework, and performed well in school. 

“Now she thinks I’m some kind of dirty prankster,” You said with a shrug. “Sure, I pull some jokes here and there, but nothing on that scale. But when something crazy happens, she tends to blame me first.”

“That sucks. I bet it’s tough to have the student council president on your back of all people,” Chika said.

“Whatever,” You said. “Anyways, are you going to disband the School Idol club? Considering that the prez practically said she was never going to allow it, I don’t see a point in pursuing it any further.”

“Are you kidding?” Chika exclaimed, almost looking offended. “No way! I’m not gonna let her slow me down. We already have three potential applicants!”

“Are you talking about the girls from earlier today?” You asked. Chika nodded fervently, and You sighed. “I’m not so sure if they were all that into it, Chika.”

“Well then I’ll make sure that they get into it! Everyone just needs to unlock the hidden potential inside their heart!”

“…Right,” You said. “Anyways, I have practice after school, so I better get to stepping. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“See you tomorrow, You!”

Chika pondered the events of the day as she walked home. Sure, it wasn’t an outright amazing start, but she only felt inspired to pursue her dream of being a School Idol even more. Finding five members would be tough, though. Even if she were able to recruit the three first years she had met earlier that day, she would only have four members. You couldn’t join the club because of her commitments to the swim club.

“Darn,” Chika muttered. She’d think about it more later. Preferably after dinner.

She left her gaze drift over to the ocean, which sparkled and shined beautifully. Chika felt a warm rush go through her, finding comfort in the calmness of the sea.

_Maybe I can check out the beach for a few minutes, _she decided, detouring from her plan to go straight home. Nothing could beat the allure of the ocean.

That was when she noticed her. A crimson haired girl standing on the dock, her hair blowing in the breeze as she stared out into the depths of the horizon.

The girl started fidgeting with her clothing, and Chika watched her curiously.

“What is she…? Um, wait a minute, I didn’t sign up for this.” Chika gulped when she realized the girl was rapidly stripping down, dropping her school uniform onto the dock. Thankfully she was wearing swimsuit, but that didn’t make the situation any less strange. “She does realize the water is freezing, right?”

And then the girl starting darting towards the ocean, and Chika assumed that she did not.


	2. Catch the Transfer Student!

You watched as Chika fruitlessly tried to persuade Riko to join the School Idol club for the thousandth time. After getting roped into another discussion with Dia where she chewed them out for not having a composer, discovering that Riko was a pianist lit a fire under Chika’s belly like no other.

“I don’t know if you should keep pestering her, Chika,” You tried to put it lightly, not wanting to dampen Chika’s mood. “You might start getting on her nerves.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing!” Chika said as she unwrapped the plastic around her sandwich. “Once she reaches her breaking point, she’ll give in and join!”

“I don’t think so,” You muttered, but Chika was so stubborn that You doubted she could convince the girl otherwise. “Anyways, are we still visiting Kanan after school?”

Chika beamed, and You deduced that she had likely forgotten.

“Yeah, for sure! My mom has some oranges for me to bring to her,” Chika said. “I wonder how Kanan is doing. Even though she is a third year, it’s weird not having her at school.”

“Yeah, I wonder how she’s possibly keeping up with schoolwork,” You said. If she was so busy helping out at her grandfather’s shop to the point that she couldn’t even attend school, how could she possibly make time to understand the material on her own?

“I guess we’ll have to ask her!” Chika chirped.

Kanan’s life consisted of pretty much the same thing every day.

Wake up freakishly early, prepare the shop for opening, help people around, take people on tours, close the shop, and then fervently do homework until it’s time to sleep. She basically had no time to do anything outside of that, and many of her relationships were slowly slipping out of reach, descending into the waters below.

_Jeez, I shouldn’t be thinking these depressing thoughts, _she thought to herself, sitting at one of the tables outside. The day had been slow and she didn’t have any scheduled tours, so she saw it fit to take a little break. Besides, Chika and You had said they would be visiting anyways.

_Maybe I should reach out to Dia._

“Kanan! Yoohoo!” Kanan looked over to see Chika and You approaching, a plastic bag in Chika’s hands.

“Hey strangers,” Kanan said.

“Long time no see, Kanan!” You said, giving the older girl a salute before plopping into one of the seats next to her.

“I come bearing gifts!” Chika declared, dropping the plastic bag onto the table. It was filled with a bountiful amount of mandarin oranges, and Kanan smiled.

“Huh, oranges, what a surprise,” Kanan said sarcastically.

Chika rolled her eyes. “It’s a gift from the mother. If you don’t like it, tell her that.”

“I’m just messing with you. I do like it,” Kanan assured her. “Tell ‘the mother’ I say thank you very much.”

“Totally!” Chika said, seemingly appeased, before joining the two at the table and grabbing one of the oranges out of the bag. “How has working here been?”

“Fine,” Kanan shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. “Today hasn’t been all that busy, which is nice. How’s school?”

“Boring. But we got a transfer student!” Chika said excitedly.

Kanan blinked in surprise. “Really? From where?”

“Tokyo!” 

“How did she wind up here?” Kanan joked.

“That’s a great question,” You said. “What a change of pace.”

“I think it had something to do with piano,” Chika supplied, pursing her lip in thought. “She told me she’s been struggling to find inspiration, or something. The other day she just about leapt into the ocean just to find motivation!”

“Wow, that’s intense,” Kanan said, although internally she felt somewhat the same way. Unmotivated. “She must be really passionate about the piano.”

“Yeah, she’s flipping amazing,” Chika said while tossing a piece of the orange into her mouth.

“Flipping,” You said slowly, like it was a foreign word. “I can’t believe she moved all the way out here just to find inspiration.”

“Sounds like a hassle for her parents,” Kanan said, leaning into her seat. Chika shrugged.

“There’s probably more to it. That’s just what she told me,” Chika said. “I want to help her, but it’s not like I know anything about the piano.”

Kanan mulled over Chika’s words, trying to find a solution for a girl she hadn’t even met.

“Well, she tried to jump into the ocean, right?” Kanan asked, and Chika nodded. “Maybe you should invite her over for a dive. At the very least it should clear her head.”

Chika practically jumped out of her seat at the suggestion, a massive grin appearing on her face.

“That’s brilliant! Kanan, did I ever tell you that you are a genius?”

Kanan laughed gently. “I’m not sure, but I do appreciate the compliment.”

“I want to go too!” You said cheerfully. “Nothing beats diving into the clear blue.”

“Of course you’re coming, You! Oh, this is going to be so fun!”

Before Chika could ramble on about how great it would be, a loud humming sound cut into their conversation. The three girls looked up to see a helicopter in the sky.

Kanan felt a pit in her stomach.

“Oh wow, a helicopter!” Chika said, awe-struck.

“You don’t see many of those around here, that’s for sure,” You pointed out.

“It’s probably the Ohara’s,” Kanan said.

But she knew it wasn’t probably Mari’s. It definitely was.

“Diving?” Riko repeated, her brow furrowed. “In the ocean?”

“No, in the swimming pool,” Chika said smugly. She was the type of person who found her own jokes the funniest. “Yeah, the ocean. My friend Kanan’s grandpa runs a diving shop, and she invited us to come out.”

“We feel like it’ll give you some motivation,” You added. Since Chika followed Riko around like a moth to flame, she had essentially become a part of their friend group. You still wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about it.

Riko seemed to be considering the offer, before she eventually nodded.

“Yeah, I’d love too. It sounds like a lot of fun,” Riko said.

Chika beamed. “Awesome! I’ll tell Kanan right away, then!” She whipped out her phone and rapidly started tapping the screen.

“Good thing it’s lunch or that thing would get taken in an instant,” You said. Riko giggled behind a hand.

“Thanks for considering me, you guys,” Riko said. Chika hummed.

“Of course! We wanna help you the best we can, right You?” Chika said, her eyes peeled to her cellphone screen.

“Aye aye!” You said with a smile. “I understand what it feels like to lose inspiration.”

“Right, you are a competitive diver on the swim team, right?” Riko asked.

“Yeah, and sometimes there’s rough patches. But when you make it to the other side you always come out stronger,” You said reassuringly. “Yikes, it sounds cliché, but it is true.”

“Don’t worry, I believe you,” Riko said. “Thanks You.”

“No worries,” You said genuinely. “Anyways, while you both are here, I drew some sketches for outfits like you asked me to, Chika!”

“You did?” Chika exclaimed, setting down her phone. “That’s awesome! Lemme see ‘em!”

“You’re designing the costumes, You?” Riko asked.

You nodded as she pulled her drawing book out of her backpack.

“I felt bad that I didn’t have time to join the School Idol club and help Chika, so I thought I could support her in another way,” You explained. “I love uniforms, so creating outfits for Chika isn’t such a big deal.”

You placed the book on the table and allowed the two girls to take a look. They both flipped through the contents, Riko looking impressed and Chika looking puzzled.

“Wow, you really are a great drawer!” Riko said.

“It’s nothing,” You said sheepishly.

“These are great, but, uh, they aren’t really fitting for a School Idol, You,” Chika pointed out, holding up the notebook and showing one of the pages to You. “Why am I holding a gun in this one?!”

“Military theme!” You said happily. “Don’t worry, I thought you might have this reaction. Flip to the last one.”

Chika followed suit and navigated to the back page, a gasp coming out of her mouth when she saw the sketch.

“No way! This is super cute!” Chika said. “You, this is totally School Idol material!”

“It actually does look like something an idol would wear,” Riko said, impressed.

“Guys, stop. It’s going to go to my head,” You said.

“And that’s the last thing she needs.”

A voice that didn’t fit anyone at the table had spoken, and the three girls turned around to see Dia standing there.

“Ah, and the student council prez has blessed us with her presence,” You said.

“Hi, Dia! Have you changed your mind about letting us form a school club?” Chika asked excitedly.

“No,” Dia said firmly. “And I hope you aren’t pestering Riko too badly, Chika.”

Riko blushed. “Don’t worry, she isn’t.”

“For what reason are you gracing us with your presence?” You asked.

“I actually want to talk to you, Watanabe,” Dia said. “There’s some things we need to discuss.”

“That’s ambiguous,” You said. “When?”

“Right now would be preferable,” Dia said.

You looked down at the watch on her wrist. There was ten minutes of lunch left, which was likely enough time for Dia to get off whatever was on her chest.

“Sure,” You said, standing up from the table. “I’ll see you guys in class.”

“Good luck You!” Chika called after them.

The student council room was basically Dia’s office, since she seemed to be in there at all times. The walls were painted a dark gray, and there were papers orderly arranged in stacks on a desk in the corner. There was no dust, and the corners of the room were kept clear of cobwebs. Dia obviously did well on the upkeep. You sometimes felt like she was more of a principal than a student council president.

You took a seat, watching as Dia sat in her own chair, sitting with perfect posture. Her raven hair fell elegantly behind her back, and her teal eyes studied You closely.

She was an extremely attractive person. Too bad she didn’t have a personality to match.

“Listen, Watanabe, I know that we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye,” Dia said.

“That’s the understatement of the century,” You mumbled loud enough for Dia to hear, who promptly ignored the comment.

“But I think it is imperative that you dissuade Chika from forming a School Idol club,” Dia said as if the world was dependent on it.

“Aren’t you being a little dramatic?” You asked, frowning. “I get that Chika doesn’t have as much School Idol knowledge as you do-“

“I t-told you, everything I said was common knowledge.” Dia blushed.

“-but I still don’t understand why you’re so adamant on stopping her from forming a club. There is virtually no harm in having one.”

Dia closed her eyes.

“I won’t allow it. And I don’t have to explain it to you,” Dia said.

“That’s not fair, Dia, and you know it,” You said. “You have no right to stop Chika from forming a club.”

“I have every right. I’m the student council president, am I not?”

You’s eyes slit in frustration. “You’re more like a tyrant.”

Dia shrugged. “Call me what you want, it doesn’t matter to me. The point I’m trying to make is that as long as I am alive, there will never, ever be a School Idol club at Uranohoshi.”

You clenched her fists in rage, chewing her bottom lip in order to stop herself from saying something she would regret.

“You probably rigged the election,” You said bitterly.

“Why don’t you count the votes and find out for yourself?” Dia countered, her voice dripping with malice.

Silence consumed the room for a few moments as You pondered what to do next. She contemplated storming out of the room, but that felt like she was letting Dia win. And she hated losing.

“I’m not doing it,” You finally said.

“Pardon me?”

“I’m not doing it. I’m going to let Chika do what she wants,” You said.

Dia was trembling with anger. “Letting Chika do what she wants is not necessarily what is best for her.”

“How could you possibly know what’s good for Chika?!” You shouted.

Dia shot out of her seat, slamming her palms onto her desk so aggressively that You could have sworn she felt the reverberation through the floor.

“Why don’t you think about it for a second, Watanabe?!” Dia barked. “We are from a dead-end town in the middle of the countryside, and Chika wants to make an idol group that consists of no composer, no choreographer, and, lest we forget, no other members!”

“She’s trying to-“

“I’m aware that she’s trying. And how has that been working out for her?” You didn’t respond, and Dia continued. “Exactly. You see it as clear as I do. Chika is going down a path where she is only setting her hopes up just for them to crash down in the end. Do you really want that for your best friend?” 

Silence ensued, and Dia leaned forwards over the table, looking You dead in the eye.

“Well? Do you?”

“Obviously not!” You finally said.

Dia merely smiled, and it made You feel slimy.

“Of course. Because you are a good friend.” The smirk on Dia’s face grinded You’s insides. “Now, go and make the right choice. Or we  _ will  _ be talking again.”

You didn’t respond. She merely got up and exited the room, slamming the door behind her.

“Hanamaru? Are you there?”

Hanamaru blinked herself back into focus, looking over at Ruby who was wearing a concerned expression.

“Oh, sorry Ruby, I totally zoned out. What were you saying?” Hanamaru asked, closing her lunchbox and slipping it into her backpack.

“You were looking at that girl’s desk again.” Ruby knit her brows in concentration. “Y-Yoshiko, right?”

“Yeah,” Hanamaru said, her eyes darting back over to the girl’s empty desk. “I’m starting to get a little worried.”

The two of them had run into Chika earlier, where the orange-haired girl tried to persuade them to join her club once again. In the midst of conversation, Hanamaru let it slip that Yoshiko had been absent since the first day of school, where she had darted out after her poor introduction.

“Maybe she’s just sick?” Ruby guessed, scooping some food into her mouth.

Hanamaru crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know. I’m not so sure. I want to reach out to her, but I don’t have her contact information. I don’t even know where she lives.”

“I don’t know, Hanamaru. I’m sure she’ll turn up,” Ruby reasoned. “If not, we can always talk to my sis. She has access to the school directory – we can reach out to Yoshiko that way!”

Hanamaru smiled. “That’s a good idea, Ruby!”

Ruby reddened from the compliment. “T-Thanks.”

The two best friends descended into another conversation, but Hanamaru couldn’t get Yoshiko out of her head. Or was it Yohane, now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know if i already went over this, but events that were already highlighted in the anime likely won't appear in this book/will be gone over very briefly. 
> 
> this will follow the canon for the most part, but there will be deviations/new scenes (of course, the whole DiaYou thing isn't canon compliant either). i just thought that these four pairings would be the most 'canon' in terms of the anime. 
> 
> hope you enjoyed :)


	3. First Step

Things were starting to look up for Chika Takami.

The first amazing thing to happen to her was that, after You’s discussion with Dia, she sauntered right up to Chika and declared that she would join the School Idol club. You clearly had something on her mind, and she seemed really angry, but Chika was just glad to have another member, and enveloped her best friend in a bear hug.

The second amazing thing to happen to her was that Riko, post-diving at Kanan’s place, was able to find her inspiration again. And not only did Riko agree to become the composer for the club, she also, after some more subtle persuasion through the utilization of a μ's song, agreed to join the club as well.

Everything was coming up Chika.

“Jeez, I’m tired!” Chika cried as she dropped down onto the sand, heaving heavily. You placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

“We haven’t been practicing that long, Chika,” she pointed out. “Right, Ri-Oh jeez.”

Riko was keeled over, gasping for breath. “I-I’m f-fine,” she sputtered out.

“Right,” You said, suppressing an eye-roll. “Don’t worry, I’ve got the perfect remedy for your exhaustion.”

Chika’s eyes widened. “Really? What is it?”

“Exercise!” You declared with a thumbs up. Chika frowned.

“Oh god,” Riko said. “Anything but that.”

“Exercise isn’t really my thing,” Chika said. “I’m more of an orange-consumer.”

“We’re well aware,” You said. “But if you guys wanna become real School Idols, you gotta have the fitness to get through one dance routine. I mean, we aren’t even singing yet!”

Riko straightened after finally catching her breath, her cheeks dusted in red due to a mixture of strenuous effort and embarrassment.

“I suppose You is right,” Riko agreed. “We should really have a fitness plan if we want to pursue this seriously.”

“Man,” Chika groaned. That didn’t sound like a good time. “What do you have in mind, You?”

You tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Running probably isn’t a bad start.”

“Running?” Chika repeated exasperatedly. “Of all awful things, you pick running?” She fake-gagged to show her disgust.

“Yes, running. Unless you got any better ideas?”

You looked over to Riko, who immediately shook her head and started twiddling her thumbs. Her gaze flicked back over to Chika, who sighed.

“You’re right. Alright, running it-Whoa, what the?!”

Chika was abruptly cut off by a loud churning sound. The three girls looked up to see a helicopter flying through the sky.

“Jeez, another Ohara helicopter? Those guys love flaunting their wealth,” Chika muttered, sounding slightly bitter.

“Umm, is it just me, or is it getting closer?” Riko asked.

“No, I don’t think so…Wait, duck!” You shouted.

The three girls fell to the ground as the helicopter flew, what felt like, just over their heads. The turbines kicked up a bunch of sand, sending it flying everywhere, and Riko started coughing coarsely when some flew into her mouth.

Eventually the helicopter landed, and the door whipped open, revealing a blonde girl wearing a toothy grin.

“Hello everybody~”

“So you’re Mari Ohara? The daughter of the guy that runs that really successful hotel chain?” Chika asked. The girls were now all standing on the beach, the surprise of the helicopter actually landing having since faded.

“That’s me!” Mari chirped.

“That’s not really surprising, considering the helicopter and all,” You said, motioning towards the helicopter.

“I thought you were studying abroad, or something,” Chika said.

“I was, but I decided to return to Uranohoshi for my third year,” Mari explained. “I heard there was something of a School Idol club forming, and I had to check it out!”

“School Idol?” Chika repeated, her features brightening.

“You came all the way back here for that?” Riko asked.

“Well, you could say that,” Mari answered without really answering.

“If you’re here for School Idols, you should join my club!” Chika said vigorously. She always hopped on the opportunity to recruit some new members. “Especially if you came all this way!”

“I’ll be supporting your club, don’t you worry about that!” Mari said with a wink. “Now, I better get home. Daddy’s probably wondering where I am. Keep up the practicing though, ladies!”

The three girls watched as Mari clambered back into her helicopter.

“Ciao!” she called out before slamming the door. Abruptly the helicopter started up, gusts of wind blowing violently before stopping once the helicopter took off.

“Well that was sort of weird,” Riko said.

“I feel like everything that has happened in the past week can be defined as ‘sort of weird,’” You said, and Riko hummed in agreement.

Chika vibrated with energy. “Sweetness! She said she would support us! Ah, my life is going so well right now!”

_ My life is going so bad right now!  _ Yoshiko thought as she walked down the street. Even though she was dressed in a trench coat and a face mask, she still felt like everyone recognized her, and remembered the stupid stunt she had pulled on the first day of school.

Why had she gone and introduced herself as Yohane? Her first year of high school was supposed to be the beginning of her normal, slice-of-life high school life. She would make friends, socialize, study (maybe), and not pretend to be a falling angel.

But, within the literal first five minutes of class, she had already established to everyone else that she was clearly a lunatic. And for that reason, she had decided that she would never go to school again.

As she walked towards Numazu Station, her heart jumped when she saw two girls that she recognized.

_Oh my god, it’s those idol girls! _She thought, the memories flooding back to her. That was when she ran into Zuramaru for the first time. _Zuramaru probably thinks I’m a freak, too._

Yoshiko had intended on walking right past the two girls, but was caught off guard when a redheaded girl tapped her on the shoulder.

“Um, excuse me?” she said softly, and Yoshiko looked at her, her heart seizing in her chest. Not socialization. That was the last thing she needed. “P-Please come to our concert!”

The redhead held out a piece of paper, and Yoshiko quickly glossed it over. It looked like the three of them were holding some sort of concert at the school.

Yoshiko, doing what she did best, snatched the piece of paper and darted away, leaving the redhead standing there in shock.

_School Idol, huh? _Yoshiko thought to herself as she darted down the street.

It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Dia said to herself, staring down Mari who was just smiling goofily. “There’s no way they’re going to be able to fill up that whole gym. You realize that, right?”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, Dia!” Mari said, spinning in her office chair. Because her dad had donated such a massive amount of money to the school, she only saw it fit to purchase herself a comfortable, plush chair. She was the new director after all. “You shouldn’t doubt those girls. That Chika seems pretty capable.”

“Capable?” Dia sneered. “I don’t think you know what the definition of that word means.”

“I actually know it in two languages,” Mari countered.

“Don’t worry, I’m aware of that. You have been gone for two years after all,” Dia said lowly.

“I’m back now. Isn’t that what matters?” Mari asked. Dia pursed her lip.

“Have you spoken with Kanan yet?” Dia asked, opting not to respond to Mari’s question. If this bothered Mari, she didn’t show it.

“Not yet. I do plan on it, though,” Mari said. “I’m eccitata to see how my little Kanan has grown!”

“I wouldn’t bet on her being so thrilled to see you,” Dia said.

“Well, she can’t possibly greet me any colder than you have.”

Dia visibly flinched at this, and Mari didn’t know whether to be happy that her comment stung or be upset that her relationship with Dia was so tense.

“Hey Dia, it’s joke!” Mari said childishly.

Dia stood up tersely, ignoring Mari. 

“I’d better take my leave. I have many things to do.”

Dia quickly shuffled out of the room, closing the door gently behind her. Despite her harsh words, she always seemed to be attentive to social pleasantries.

“I’m sure you do,” Mari drawled, looking at her freshly manicured finger nails.

Riko’s eyes scanned over the lyrics of their song for what felt like the umpteenth time while Chika slept soundly on the carpet. You had her earphones in, listening to the background of the song that Riko had composed.

It was safe to say that the three of them were wiped. They had spent the last couple hours after school at Chika’s house practicing their dance routine. You wanted nothing less than perfection, and since her attention to detail was so particular, they had a lot of work to do.

“I can’t get over how good this sounds,” You said, abolishing the comfortable silence that had overtaken the room. The only other audible sound had been Chika’s steady breathing. “Like, you’re extremely talented. Aqours is going to have an epic debut!”

Riko blushed. “Anyone could do it, really.”

She pondered over You’s last comment in her head. They had found Aqours written on the sand at the beach when they were trying to come up with names, and the fact that none of them had been the one to write it still bothered her. Chika didn’t care at all, saying it was destiny or something, and You didn’t seem to mind much either.

“Don’t be so modest. We both know that’s not true,” You said. “Chika’s very lucky that you were willing to help out like this.”

“It’s not just that I want to help out,” Riko said, shaking her head. “Chika’s inspired to me. Being a School Idol…It seems like a lot of fun.”

You paused, studying Riko’s features, and the redhead felt herself shrink under the blue-eyed girl’s piercing gaze.

“I’m glad,” You finally said. “Chika does a great job of motivating others, but she’s not great at keeping herself inspired. I feel like School Idols has been like a catalyst for her, and now she’s actually working continuously at something instead of giving up after striking out once. I feel like you will keep her accountable.”

Riko nodded resolutely. “I’ll try my best.”

Her eyes darted over to Chika’s sleeping form, and she couldn’t resist the smile developing on her face. She had never met anyone quite like Chika before. Riko had never had any interests besides piano; socializing wasn’t really her thing, so she often stayed at home, practicing until she couldn’t anymore. It was her passion, after all.

But, it was lonely. And Chika made her feel like she would never be lonely again.

“Crap!” You’s sudden shriek brought Riko out of her thoughts, and she watched as the gray-haired girl sprung off the ground onto her feet. “The busses probably aren’t running anymore! Shoot, I’m going to have to ask Chika’s mom for a ride.”

You darted over to the corner and grabbed her backpack, stuffing her things inside before zipping it up and slinging it around her back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Riko!” You cried as she headed out of the room.

“Wait, You!” Riko called, and You paused at the door, turning her head to look at Riko.

“What?”

“I just wanted to say, I think it’s really cool of you to join the School Idol club,” Riko said, smiling bashfully. “I mean, you’re already super busy with swimming. The fact that you’re making time for Chika proves how good of a friend you are.”

You stared at Riko, and she looked as if a thousand thoughts were running through her head. Then she shook her head.

“Trust me, I’m not that great,” You said. “But, thanks.”

You then left the room, leaving a puzzled Riko sitting on the carpeted on the floor.

Dia listened attentively to Aqours’ song, her eyes scanning the gymnasium. Since Chika’s sister had come in with a flood of people, the gymnasium was packed. It looked like the School Idol club was going to happen after all.

This was a scenario that Dia actually didn’t doubt happening. Their town was small, but that meant they were tight-knit. The fact that a lot of them bothered showing up wasn’t necessarily surprising.

She caught her sister there alongside her little brunette friend. Another person there was that first-year who hadn’t showed up since the first day of school. Even though she was dressed in elaborate clothing, Dia knew it was her – she was the student council president, after all. Nothing got by her.

Kanan was standing outside the gym, and Mari was somewhere swallowed in the crowd, probably watching with pride. How funny was it that the two were so close together, yet so far apart?

Dia was in a room packed full of people, and yet she felt so utterly disconnected. It was almost like she was on a different plane, another layer. Everyone around her looked tangible, but if she touched one of them, she felt like her hand might go right through them.

The song came to a close, and the crowd roared with applause. Aqours’ first show had been a success, despite the bad weather, the power outage, and the fact that everyone had shown up a half an hour late.

But if they thought this was going to be their hardest challenge to overcome, they were dead wrong.

As everyone cheered and clapped, Dia snaked through the crowd, finally arriving in front of the stage where she could see the second years clearly. Sweat stained their brows, and they were breathing heavily, but they were shining brilliantly. They really looked like stars. Like idols.

“You do realize,” Dia shouted as the cheers started to die down, “that this was only possible because of the people here? If it weren’t for the community of this town, nobody would have bothered coming at all!”

You gritted her teeth angrily. “Why you-“

“It’s okay,” Chika said to her friend before turning to Dia. “I know that.”

Dia flinched. “Pardon?”

“I know that this was only possible because the goodwill of the townspeople,” Chika said, her smile so brilliant that Dia felt it radiating in her soul. “And we really appreciate that! But this opportunity to do our best, to perform to all these people, to have people cheer us on, will only help us shine brighter as School Idols!”

Dia hesitated for a few moments, considering whether or not she should reply, before she closed her lips and turned around. She moved through the crowd and exited the gymnasium, a feeling she long since suppressed churning inside her.

Her resolve was starting to fracture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as i said previously, this story is finished in its entirety. updates should come out pretty fast, but i have a really busy week ahead of me, so i don't know how consistent i'll be
> 
> another thing to note is that i'm not having mari speak engrish because since she's already technically speaking english in this story, it doesn't really make sense to have her mispronounce a language she's otherwise speaking fluently. so i just plunked in random italian instead. if it doesn't make sense, blame google translate lol 
> 
> hope you guys enjoyed the chapter :)


	4. Two Girls' Feelings

“I should have known they would have stuck us with the worst room in the school,” You muttered as they walked into their newly assigned clubroom.

Random clutter decorated the room. Boxes full of different items used by different clubs, posters and flyers, old textbooks, anything that the school didn’t know what to do with had been dumped into this very room.

Despite this, Chika looked thrilled to bits.

“This is perfect!” Chika beamed, doing a spin as she looked over the room. “We even have our own whiteboard!”

“I feel like you’re ignoring the mess that this place is in,” Riko said. Chika continued to gawk at the room, and You nodded.

“I totally think she is,” You agreed, rolling up her sleeves. “Well, we better get to cleaning.”

“Right!” Chika said, giving You a thumbs up. “Alright, you guys get cleaning, and I’ll be right back.”

Chika did an act of charging up before sprinting out of the room, and in the midst of her antics Riko grabbed onto her collar, stopping her from running away.

“No way. You aren’t dumping this on us, Chika,” Riko said.

“Darn, I really thought that would work,” Chika said solemnly.

“Maybe if you didn’t spend five seconds working yourself up,” You pointed out, picking up one of the boxes. “A lot of these are filled with books. Maybe we should return a couple of them to the library.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Riko agreed, releasing Chika to look inside another one of the boxes.

“Maybe if we return some of these books, and they turn out to be missing, we’ll get compensated by the library!” Chika thought aloud, giggling at the idea at a fast cash grab.

“Whatever makes you work harder,” You muttered, eliciting a laugh from Riko.

The three girls spent a good hour cleaning the room thoroughly. Aside from the stacks of boxes, it was also really dusty, so Chika was the designated duster, which she genuinely seemed to find entertaining.

After finishing up, the girls took the boxes filled with old library books and made their way over. It was around four o’clock, so some of the library assistants should have still been there.

They entered the library, and weren’t surprised to find it was empty. The library wasn’t regularly flocked, and was usually only populated during lunch periods. Even so, there weren’t many people who went at all. Since the school was so small, the library wasn’t well-stocked, so there wasn’t a lot variety.

“We come bearing books!” Chika called out, carrying a particularly heavy box as she stumbled over to the front desk. She heaved the box onto the counter with a loud grunt before dropping it, sighing in relief. “Jeez! That was heavy.”

“You took the lightest box,” You pointed out, placing her own on the counter with relative ease. Riko followed suit, but she looked to be struggling as well.

Before Chika could say anything in response, a girl stepped out from inside the library’s office.

“Hello, I hear you have bo-Oh, hi Chika,” Hanamaru said, surprised to see people she recognized. “And hello to you too, Riko and You.”

“Hanamaru! Long time no see!” Chika chirped, always friendly. “I didn’t know you worked in the library.”

“Yeah, I signed up as an assistant this year. I thought it would be a good way to get volunteer hours,” Hanamaru said. “Also, congratulations on your successful concert! It was really good.”

Chika’s eyes sparkled, her heart swelling at the compliment.

“No way, you were there!” Chika said, and Hanamaru nodded. Chika squealed with delight. “That’s awesome! Were you inspired to join the club?”

“Chika!” You chastised lightly, bopping her friend on the head. “Sorry, Chika’s always on recruitment mode.”

“Ouchie,” Chika mumbled, rubbing her head.

“It’s alright,” Hanamaru said, laughing gently.

“That’s nice that you came to our concert,” Riko said, sounding grateful. “We really appreciate it.”

“Did Ruby go as well?” You asked curiously.

“Yeah! She’s actually the one who really wanted to go,” Hanamaru admitted.

“Oh yeah, you said when we first met that Ruby was into School Idols, right?” Chika asked.

“Yeah, she likes them a lot! She’s always reading about them,” Hanamaru said.

“Why doesn’t she join?” Riko offered. Hanamaru looked unsure.

“Well, I don’t know, Ruby’s pretty shy,” Hanamaru said, peering into the office. She then spoke in a hushed voice. “She’s actually in there right now.”

“Really?” Chika said as subtlety as an elephant in a china store. “I better go say hi!”

Ignoring Hanamaru’s gentle protests, Chika rounded the corner and headed into the office, catching Ruby scrolling through some websites on the computer.

“Ruby! Join the School Idol club!”

Ruby must have flown a thousand feet at Chika’s sudden entrance. She sprung out of her chair, spinning around in horror to find Chika grinning at her.

“Ah!” was all she said (well, shouted). Her eyes frantically darted around the room, as if looking for the nearest escape route, but Chika was blocking the door.

Chika, being the oblivious person she was, didn’t recognize that all Ruby wanted to do was get out of the room.

“Wow, you seem excited to see me! You really need to stop yelling like that, though,” she muttered. “Anyways, I hear you’re into School Idols. That’s funny, so am I…”

Chika continued to ramble on while Ruby continued to panic, rendering the entire conversation null.

“Oh, here, why don’t you take this?” Chika said, and Ruby was actually able to pick up on this. She watched intensely as Chika reached into her backpack, a million thoughts running through her head. What was she grabbing? An AK-47?

What Chika pulled out surprised Ruby.

“A C-CD?” Ruby said softly, that being the first words she had spoken in the, previously, entirely one-sided conversation.

“Yeah, here,” Chika said, smiling softly. “I had You burn our first song onto a couple of CDs. She said I should give it to Dia to spite her, but since you are actually interested in School Idols, I thought you might appreciate it a lot more.”

She handed it out towards Ruby, and, after hesitating for a moment, Ruby reluctantly reached out her hand. When she touched the case holding the CD, and realized that Chika wasn’t going to rip it out of her grasp, she grabbed onto it.

“T-Thanks,” Ruby said, retracting her arm. “I-I…I really l-liked your concert.”

Chika beamed. “Really? That’s good. It’d be bad if you hated it, and then I just gave you a CD of a song you hate. Awkward, am I right?”

Before Ruby could even attempt to think of a reply, Riko came into the room, grabbing onto Chika’s sleeve.

“That’s enough of bothering Ruby, don’t you think?” Riko said as she dragged Chika out of the room.

“Hey, I wasn’t bothering her!” Chika countered.

As the two exited the office, Ruby looked down at the CD in her hand.

“School Idols…”

Kanan yawned into her hand as she watched the group of people she toured fade away into the distance. That had been her second tour of the day and she was starting to grow more and more exhausted.

“Oh well,” she muttered. It wasn’t like she wasn’t having fun. There was nothing she loved more than the sea, so showing people its wonders would never be a hassle.

She twirled around, intent on checking on the shop when her eyes locked onto somebody she hadn’t noticed before. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she felt herself become rooted to the ground, like she was paralyzed.

“Mari,” she said, her eyes studying the blonde intensely.

“Brillante! You remember me,” Mari chirped, her Cheshire grin fading into a gentle smile. “That makes me really happy.”

Kanan’s stomach tied itself into knots. What was she supposed to feel right now? Why was Mari back, now of all times?

Why did she have to smile like that?

“Hug time!” Mari cried, charging towards Kanan. Before the blue-haired girl could react, she was enveloped into a tight hug, Mari snuggling into the crook of her neck.

Kanan didn’t move, feeling frozen in place. Mari smelt the same; like roses and expensive perfume. It was an intoxicating fragrance that couldn’t be mimicked.

Mari pulled away, studying Kanan’s features up close.

“You look so different,” Mari said, her eyes flickering over Kanan’s features. “And yet, it’s almost like you haven’t changed at all.”

Mari hadn’t changed. She was as beautiful as ever.

“Well, I have,” Kanan finally said. “I have changed, because it’s been two years.”

“Ah, what’s with you and Dia reminding me of how long I’ve been gone?” Mari asked, sounding vaguely annoyed, although Kanan couldn’t tell if she really was or if she was playing it up. “I’m the most aware of it, of course.”

“You’ve spoken with Dia?” Kanan asked.

Mari stuck out her tongue. “Don’t be upset. I just happened to run into her first.”

“I’m not upset,” Kanan said, although it felt like a lie.

“Anyways, I have spoken with Dia. The new school director and the student council president have to get along, after all!” Mari said. “When’s the last time you spoke to Dia, Kanan?”

The comment shook Kanan to her core, and she frowned.

“What are you doing here?” Kanan asked tensely.

“Talking to you, silly!”

“I mean back here. You’re supposed to be studying abroad,” Kanan pointed out. Mari shrugged.

“Change of plans. A girl can change her mind, you know.”

Kanan chewed her bottom lip to stop herself from lashing out.

“You say that like it was easy,” was what Kanan went with.

“It wasn’t. Hard to believe, but my parents weren’t eager for me to return to the middle of buck nowhere,” Mari said. “And Uranohoshi isn’t a particularly elitist school.”

“Which is exactly why there is no reason for you to be here right now.”

The ocean carried over a strong breeze, and both of the girls’ hair fluttered in the wind. The calmness of the waters accentuated the silence that Kanan felt like she was being swallowed in.

“Chika, she’s started up a School Idol group,” Mari said.

Kanan scoffed. “Don’t tell me that’s why you came back.”

“Fine, I won’t,” Mari said, her voice still carrying that lilt of glee that Kanan couldn’t understand. “My reasons for coming back are my own.”

Kanan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. All she wanted to do was scoop Mari up in her arms and tell her how much she missed her, how much she cared about her.

“You should have never come back here,” Kanan said sharply, instead.

Something flashed in Mari’s gaze before she smiled.

“Playing hard to get? Fine~”

If the world was a television show, or a movie, Ruby could be accurately described as a background character. A supporting role, if you were being generous.

She didn’t need to stand out. Her big sister did all the standing out for her. Dia was an honors student, with immaculate manners and a powerful drive that essentially meant she could have any future she desired if she worked hard enough for it.

Ruby wasn’t equipped with these same features. She was shy, painfully so. She did okay at school, but her marks were merely consistently average. She was polite, but sometimes her introversion got the better of her and made it hard for others to approach her.

Not that Dia was approachable. That was one trait the Kurosawa sisters shared.

Ruby often felt like she was fading into the background, like the world was rotating without her and it didn’t really mind. She had no passions, no innate talent for anything.

But, School Idols…

“You’re joining the club?” Chika exclaimed, tears streaming down her face as she grabbed onto one of Hanamaru’s and Ruby’s hands. “This is the best day of my life!”

You lifted her right hand and did a little salute.

“Two new members? Talk about full steam ahead!” she cheered.

“Do you guys have selective hearing, or something?” Riko asked, gently massaging her temples as if she were nursing a headache. “They said they were joining on a _trial _basis.”

“Trial, schmial,” Chika said, releasing her grip on the first years. “We’re just happy you’re interested at all!”

“Yeah, we thought we should at least try it out. Right, Ruby?” Hanamaru asked her best friend, who nodded resolutely.

“Yeah!” Ruby said with as much confidence as she could muster.

“Oh gosh, you’re so adorable!” Chika giggled, squeezing Ruby’s cheeks, eliciting a surprised cry from the redhead.

As Riko tried to get Chika off of her, and Hanamaru asked if she was okay, Ruby felt a feeling like she had never felt before.

Passion. 

Dia sat on the bench patiently, her eyes flickering to her wristwatch every other moment. This was the time that Hanamaru had designated for their meeting, and Dia was a woman of punctuality.

“Dia?” a voice that sounded utterly un-Hanamaru said, and Dia angled her head to see someone she didn’t respect.

Whenever she saw Kanan, Dia didn’t really know how to feel. In the back of her head her childhood friend Kanan still existed; the girl that pulled her out of her shell, exposed her to the wonders of friendship and adventure.

But the Kanan standing before her felt like a shell of her former self. Dia always felt like she was being pushed underwater when she spoke with Kanan. Gasping for air but tasting nothing but bitter sea salt.

“Kanan?” was all Dia said, equally surprised.

“W-What are you doing here?” Kanan asked, wiping a hand across her brow to chase away the accumulating sweat.

Dia brushed the imaginary dust off her skirt and straightened.

“I’m meeting with someone,” Dia said. “Looks like you’re out for your daily run.”

Kanan nodded. “Yeah, I slept in this morning, so I decided to run later…”

There was that feeling again. Like Dia had just been breaking the surface, only for someone to push her head back under. Her ears felt clogged, and it took some serious self-control not to pick at them right then and there.

“How’s school been?” Kanan said to break the awkward silence.

“It’s been well,” Dia said. “Have you been keeping up?”

Kanan scratched the back of her neck abashedly.

“Trying too. It’s hard to do schoolwork without a teacher, after all,” Kanan said. Dia wasn’t concerned – Kanan had always been a bright student, and her maturity made her highly capable. “I appreciate you dropping off papers all the time. I really haven’t thanked you enough.”

“It’s no big deal. I just do it as the student council president,” Dia muttered, scratching the mole on her chin.

A smile snuck onto Kanan’s face.

“Dia, I-“

Kanan was cut off by oncoming footsteps, and Dia looked past her to see Hanamaru walking down the steps. Her eyes flickered to her watch: two minutes late.

“I guess that’s who you’re meeting,” Kanan said, following Dia’s gaze. “I’ll catch you later then, Dia.”

Dia didn’t respond, and instead watched Kanan jog away, a knife twisting in her gut.

“You’re here,” Hanamaru said, her cheeks slightly flushed from the effort of climbing the stairs.

“Of course. We did agree to meet, after all,” Dia said, ignoring the taste of salt that still hung in the air.

“I’m here to talk to you about Ruby,” Hanamaru said, courage like Dia hadn’t seen before flaring in her eyes.

“Oh really?” Dia said, although she had already seen that coming from a mile away. “My sister? She’s here now, isn’t she?”

Hanamaru nodded. “Yep. She should be coming down the steps soon, too.”

“Well, what is it that you wanted to say?” Dia asked calmly.

Hanamaru clenched her hands tightly, as if working herself up.

“I want you to listen to what Ruby has to say, and to take her seriously!” Hanamaru said. “I know that you have something against School Idols, but this is Ruby’s dream! And you should support her as her big sister.”

Dia blinked. “I do support her.”

“If you do, then you should support the idol club as well,” Hanamaru pointed out. “Because that’s what Ruby wants more than anything. For you to be there for her.”

Hanamaru’s words rattled Dia. She was there for Ruby, wasn’t she? Her relationship with Ruby was the only thing that felt like she kept above-waters, but Hanamaru’s spiel was like a bucket of ice water dumped on her head.

“Sis?” Ruby’s voice brought her out of her thoughts, and Dia looked up to see that Hanamaru was gone.

Dia stood up, and she felt like she could breathe.

“Ruby, let’s talk.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i could die for kanamari 
> 
> this book isn't only fleshing out the relationships i established in the description, but also better delves into relationships that were overlooked in the anime (*cough* *cough* KanaDia *cough* *cough*)
> 
> hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!


	5. Yohane Descends

_ “Yoshiko Tsushima, can you come to the front and introduce yourself?” _

_Yoshiko felt her heart pounding at a thousand miles a minute as she rose from her seat, the eyes of her fellow peers locking onto her like she was fresh meat and they were starving. She gulped and made her way to the front. She should have done a success ritual prior to coming…_

_No! She was done with that fallen angel crap. This year was dedicated to Yoshiko’s self-improvement. She was a new woman. Yohane was as dead as a doornail._

_Yoshiko stood in front of her classmates, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. Her teacher was looking at her with a friendly smile. She could do this. She could do this!_

_And then she started to chuckle darkly._

_Slipping into her Yohane persona was essentially second nature for Yoshiko, to the point where sometimes she didn’t immediately recognize she was doing it. Because of this, she was oblivious to the strange looks she was receiving from her peers, and the amused smile on Hanmaru’s face._

_“Hello my lovely angels. It’s Yohane. I am eager to share a wonderful, transformative year with you all, where I beckon you to join me, and descend from the realm of heaven into the darkness with me!”_

_“…What?” a girl at the front mumbled._

_Yoshiko (Yohane?) blinked, and then the realization of what she had done came rushing to her._

_“…Gotta jet!”_

_With that, Yoshiko flew out of the room, leaving the teacher staring concernedly after her. The classroom descended into confused chatter, and Hanamaru giggled lightly from where she sat._

_“Somethings never change.”_

_ _

“And that’s why I can never return!” Yoshiko sobbed into her hand as the School Idol club watched her, some of them looking sympathetic while the others looked plain confused.

“It doesn’t really sound like that big of a deal to me,” Chika said with a shrug. They had discovered Yoshiko hiding in the closet of the clubroom when they came in to eat lunch, where she had explained that, even though she had worked up the courage to come to school, she still couldn’t face going to class.

“Exactly,” Hanamaru said with an eye-roll. After Ruby joined the School Idol club, she was able to finally inspire Hanamaru to join as well, even though she was at first reluctant.

“You don’t understand!” Yoshiko cried before turning to Hanamaru. “And don’t you lie to me, Zuramar-OOH!”

Hanamaru slapped a hand onto Yoshiko’s mouth, shutting her up.

“Hanamaru, call me Hanamaru,” she said with a dangerous smile before dropping her hand from Yoshiko’s mouth.

Yoshiko stared at the brunette in confusion. She had noticed that she seemed to have dropped the ‘zura’ tic she used to say after nearly every sentence. She assumed that she had merely grown out of it, but Hanamaru’s reaction to the nickname seemed to tell otherwise.

“I get it,” Ruby said. “I mean, I would be scared to show my face at school if I embarrassed myself.”

“Exactly!” Yoshiko said. “It isn’t as easy as you all might think.”

“Even so, what you did doesn’t sound _that _bad,” Riko said. You sniggered.

“Nah, it sounds pretty bad,” she snorted, garnering her a smack on the arm from Riko. “Hey!”

“We’re supposed to be making her feel better, You!” Riko whispered harshly, her eyes darting over to Yoshiko who was now crying to a frantic Ruby while Hanamaru shook her head.

“Okay, okay,” You said, walking over to Yoshiko. “Listen, Yoshiko, it’s really not that big of a deal. And if kids try to pick on you, I’ll just beat them up.”

Yoshiko immediately ceased her crying and looked up at You hopefully.

“You will?”

“No! Violence is not the answer!” Riko immediately cut in, nipping it in the butt.

“Violence is always the answer!” Chika declared, receiving a loud whoop from You.

“Did I hear someone say violence?”

Everyone turned to the door to see Dia standing there, the clubroom door having been whipped open. The five girls immediately froze where they stood, and Riko shook her head slowly.

“What has my life come to?”

Yoshiko sat on the bus next to you, shuffling through her music playlist as You tapped to a rhythm game on her phone. The two had discovered that they took the same bus route home, and since Yoshiko had, unofficially, joined the School Idol group as a fallen angel in a last ditch attempt to garner some popularity, You saw it fit to try to befriend her.

“Jeez, Dia really tore into us today,” You said, her index finger tapping rapidly against her phone screen.

“Yeah, I didn’t realize that the student council president could be so scary,” Yoshiko said with a shudder. Her eyes were definitely the most terrifying part. The way they just…stared.

“I mean, she had to have realized that I was just joking,” You said with a roll of her eyes. “I bet she was just waiting outside the clubroom for a chance to pounce.”

Yoshiko bit her lip as she contemplated whether or not to ask the question that was on her mind.

“Does the student council president have something against you?” Yoshiko asked.

“I dunno. Probably,” You said. “I mean, I pulled a stupid prank last year and she’s pretty much hated me ever since. I think she thinks that I joined the School Idol club just to spite her.”

“Did you?”

You paused, shutting off her phone and slipping it into her pocket.

“Initially, yes, I did,” You admitted. “That sounds kind of awful, considering that Chika is my best friend, but I really didn’t think I could manage it. You see, I’m on the swim team-“

“Don’t worry, I know,” Yoshiko said. You was, without a doubt, the best athlete at Uranohoshi, and everyone was aware of her amazing talent.

“Oh, cool. Well, balancing being a School Idol and being on the swim team isn’t really an easy task. But, after our first performance, I realized it was something I really enjoyed,” You admitted. “It’s like a creative outlet. Diving can be stressful, but being a School Idol lets me take a break from that. Designing costumes, singing and dancing, I mean, what better way to have fun with your friends?”

_Friends? _But Yoshiko didn’t have any friends. Unless you counted Yohane.

“That’s why I think it would be great if you joined the School Idol club,” You said with her familiar dazzling smile.

Yoshiko furrowed her brow. “But, I did.”

“Yeah, but I want you to join as Yoshiko. Not Yohane.”

“Dia, you need to calma down,” Mari said with a satisfied smile as Dia basically rumbled with anger at her desk.

“Calm down?” Dia said. “Calm down?! How can I possibly _calma_ down watching this crap?”

Her eyes studied Ruby closely as she did her stupid ‘dark angel’ introduction, or whatever it was, and she wanted nothing more than to delete the video straight off the internet.

“It looks like they’re having fun,” Mari reasoned, although, to be honest, she felt slightly off-put watching herself. 

“Having fun?” Dia exclaimed. “This is objectification! And that’s not what my little sister signed up for!” She shot up from her chair. “I’m going to give that You a talking too!”

“You? I thought Chika was the leader of the group?” Mari asked, confused.

“I’m sure that Watanabe had something to do with it,” Dia said, murder in her eyes. “She’s probably been defiling Ruby with her evil, rebellious ways!”

“Rebellious?” Mari muttered, scrunching up her nose in thought. “You seems like a pretty clear-cut kid to me.”

“You don’t know her dark side,” Dia said firmly. “She pulled a dastardly prank last year, and ever since she’s been a real troublemaker.”

Mari didn’t look convinced. “Sì.”

“I’m going to go talk to them right away!”

“Whoa, look at our rank! It’s going way up!” Chika cheered from in front of the laptop. She had been all but glued to it for the past fifteen minutes, and Hanamaru was seated next to her, equally eager but for different reasons.

“Technology is the future!” she said, the same wonder that had been on her face when Chika initially showed her the laptop remaining.

“Of course. Nobody can resist a fallen angel,” Yoshiko said with a smirk. “I predicted this eons ago.”

“Right,” Riko muttered, earning her an annoyed glare from Yoshiko.

You abruptly shot up from where she was seated at the table in the clubroom, her eyes darting towards the door. Ruby yelped from her sudden movement, hiding herself behind Yoshiko.

“She’s coming!” You yelped before leaping into the closet and slamming the door behind her.

Before anybody could question what You was talking about, the door to the clubroom was launched open, and standing there was Dia in all her glory. Her body was radiating anger, and Chika gulped.

“This feels like déjà vu,” Riko remarked with a sigh.

“Where is You Watanabe?!” Dia bellowed, her voice bouncing off the walls and piercing each one of the girl’s eardrums.

“Oh, you’re looking for You? She’s-“

“We have no idea where she is!” Riko cut in, shooting Chika a glare before looking back at Dia. “She just stepped out, actually. I’m surprised you didn’t see her.”

“Of course. That’s just my luck,” Dia said, muttering curses under her breath. The first years exchanged some looks, and Ruby just shrugged.

“Is that the only reason you came?” Chika asked, catching Riko’s drift after the redhead glared at her one more time.

“Certainly not!” Dia said, stomping over to Chika. She rotated the laptop towards her and typed furiously into the search power, ignoring Chika’s weak protests. “Tell me the meaning of this?!”

Chika’s eyes studied the screen closely, and she made a confused face.

“Uh, that’s our video?” Chika said like it was obvious. “Sorry, I’m missing the point you’re trying to make here.”

“The point I’m trying to make?” Dia said lowly, her fist shaking with fury. Chika shuffled away, chuckling awkwardly.

“Yeah, what-“

“The point I’m trying to make is that this is evil!” Dia shouted, motioning to her little sister. “Objectifying my sister in such a way!”

Ruby threw her hands up in defense. “Sis, it really isn’t that bad…” 

“Look at these comments!” Dia shrieked, clicking through the page. “This is just embarrassing. What could have possibly driven you to make something like this?”

Chika scratched the back of her neck bashfully.

“Well, we were trying to gain popularity.”

“This certainly isn’t the way to do it,” Dia said, shaking her head so intensely that Chika genuinely felt guilty. “Sure, you may garner a temporary boost, but that will only be due to weird cult freaks and lolicons. This will fade, and fade soon.”

As if Dia had predicted the future, Chika refreshed the page to find that they had already had a massive drop in ranking.

“How’s that possible?!” she exclaimed as if Dia hadn’t just explained to her.

“You people are hopeless,” Dia said, walking towards the door. “And if you find that Watanabe, tell her I’m looking for her!”

The door slammed, and silence encompassed the room immediately. The feeling of dejection hung in the air, and Chika slowly slumped toward the ground, pouting.

“Is she gone?” You called out from inside the closet, her voice muffled.

“Yes, you’re safe,” Riko answered.

You opened the door and stepped out, sighing.

“I swear, that girl wants me on a stake. I could sense her coming,” You said. “Ruby, do you know why she hates me so bad?”

Ruby blinked, then squealed, then blushed, and then, finally, she shook her head.

“N-No, I have no idea,” Ruby said, before cowering behind Yoshiko again, who shot her a questioning look.

“Well that was convincing,” Riko mumbled.

“Man, Dia just totally wrecked us,” Chika said from her spot on the floor, her cheek slumped against the carpet. “Like, wow. My confidence when from sky-high to so, so low.”

“I feel like she’s exaggerating a bit,” Hanamaru said with a frown. “Our video wasn’t that bad. Even so, we didn’t have poor intentions or anything.”

“I guess looking for a quick way to boost our viewership wasn’t the best solution,” You said, leaning against the closet. She grimaced. “And now Dia’s on my ass. Jeez…”

“I-I’m sorry you guys, this is totally my fault,” Yoshiko said, looking down at the ground ashamedly. “I should have known that anything involving a fallen angel was a bad idea. It’s not like it’s worked out before.”

“It’s definitely not your fault, Yoshiko,” Chika countered, picking herself up off the ground. “We all agreed to it. And honestly, it was fun.”

Yoshiko shook her head. “No, I made you guys play a part in my delusion, and now not only is our ranking going down, but the student council president is mad at us.”

“Don’t worry about the ranking, Yoshiko,” You said. “It can’t possibly go any lower than it already was.” Riko punched her on the shoulder, and You scowled. “Hey! What the heck?”

“I need to teach you about helpful and unhelpful comments,” Riko said.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for being a School Idol. I…I should just go,” Yoshiko said, and, before anyone could stop her, she tore out of the room.

“Yoshiko!” Hanamaru said, her interest in the laptop immediately gone. “I’ll go talk to her.”

The four others girls watched as Hanamaru chased after her, and they were all momentarily silent until all eyes fell onto the only other first year in the room.

Ruby yipped once she noticed all attention was on her.

“Are you going to go too, Ruby?” Riko asked.

Ruby had contemplated it. “I think I’ll leave it to Hanamaru.”

Hanamaru didn’t fit in with kids her age. Whether it was due to her interest in books, her lack of interest in hanging out with large groups of people, or because of her non-existent technological prowess, she had never really been able to interact with her peers successfully.

Books helped her escape the world’s trivialities. Heck, because of books she was able to find her best friend in Ruby. But some part of her always felt like she was the black sheep. The odd one out.

Yoshiko seemed to feel that way too.

_“Zura!” Hanamaru said with amazement, her eyes sparkling as she watched Yoshiko climb the tree. “Go Yoshiko! You can do it!”_

_Yoshiko struggled to grab onto the next branch with her tiny arms, but with enough strain she was able to reach it, and she pulled herself up. Hanamaru watched as she continued to ascend until she was at the top of the tree, and she seated herself on one of the branches._

_“Ha-ha! I did it!” Yoshiko cried, pumping one of her fists into the air while the other one rested on the trunk of the tree. “And the others said I couldn’t. Guess I showed them!”_

_Yoshiko saw it as quite the achievement, despite Hanamaru being the only other one there._

_“You’re the best, Yoshiko!” Hanamaru yelled, clapping her hands together fervently. Yoshiko flashed her a toothy grin._

_“Of course I am! And don’t you forget it,” she chirped with pride. “Now, are you coming up Zuramaru?”_

_“Me?” Hanamaru said, sounding unsure. “I don’t think I can do it, zura.”_

_“Of course you can!” Yoshiko countered. “If I can do it, so can you!”_

_Hanamaru shook her head, looking at her small hands. There was no way she could climb that tree. Yoshiko was about ten thousand times braver than her, and even she had had trouble at some points._

_“Come on! I want you to come up here!” Yoshiko shouted. “The view’s awesome!”_

_Hanamaru studied the tree closely. “I don’t know how, zura!”_

_“Just do what I did,” Yoshiko called down. “I’ll help you. Just believe me!”_

_Hanamaru licked her lips, courage swelling inside her as she approached the tree. Yoshiko yelled encouragement down to her as she began to scale, reaching out with her small hands and grasping onto nearby branches. She sunk her feet into divots in the tree, following Yoshiko’s instructions closely. Her heart was pounding in her ears, but she couldn’t help but feel excited._

_“Here, grab my hand!” Yoshiko said, reaching out her hand when Hanamaru was reaching towards the final branch._

_Hanamaru ignored her fear and reached out, grasping onto her friend’s hand._

Hanamaru blinked, chasing away the memory that had suddenly appeared in her head. She was still darting down the hallway after Yoshiko’s receding figure, dodging students in the hallway until she found herself in front of the stairs that led to the roof.

The weather wasn’t very nice that day, so there wasn’t anybody up there. Hanamaru arrived at the top, breathing heavily after the exertion of her energy, her eyes resting on Yoshiko who was standing in the center of the rooftop.

“Yoshiko!”

The raven haired girl spun around, surprised to find that Hanamaru followed her.

“Zuramaru?” she said quietly, and Hanamaru noticed that her eyes looked wet.

She didn’t bother correcting the old nickname. “You can’t run off like that, Yoshiko.”

“It’s Yohane,” Yoshiko argued, but very weakly, like she didn’t really care all that much herself. “I couldn’t be in there any longer. I felt guilty.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Hanamaru said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yes it was!” Yoshiko said, tightening her fists. “I just had to go and muck things up by being myself. Really, that’s all it takes.”

“That’s not it at all!” Hanamaru cried. “We all agreed to the video. None of us were really thinking things through, that’s all. That doesn’t mean it was a bad idea in theory. And it definitely wasn’t your fault.”

Yoshiko shook her head. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better. We both know that I’m a freak.”

“You’re not a f-“

“Yes I am!” Yoshiko snapped, and Hanamaru’s breath hitched at the emotion on Yoshiko’s face. She looked both sad and mad, but she mostly looked pained. “I’m a complete and utter loser who doesn’t fit in anywhere. I mean, just look at my middle school experience. What a disaster that was. The last thing people need is me being in a School Idol club.”

“I need you in the School Idol club,” Hanamaru said gently. Yoshiko rolled her eyes.

“No you don’t. You were perfectly content without me. We aren’t even friends,” Yoshiko said.

“Perfectly content?” Hanamaru repeated, her brow furrowing in frustration. “I was actually quite the opposite of ‘perfectly content!’ Don’t you understand that people have been worried about you, that I’ve been worried about you?”

Yoshiko snickered. “Yeah, right-“

“Stop feeling bad for yourself and listen!” Hanamaru shouted, effectively stunning Yoshiko into silence. “You don’t bother coming to school for days on end and think everyone’s just going to be okay with that? Guess what, we weren’t. And you aren’t a loser. You know what, Yoshiko? I think you’re awesome the way you are. Because when you’re around us, you’re you. And I don’t care if that’s Yoshiko, or Yohane, or a mixture of both.” Hanamaru screwed her eyes shut. “Don’t you get that, zura?!”

The brunette’s eyes popped back open when the tic slipped out, and she exchanged a look with the equally shocked Yoshiko.

“Old habits die hard,” Yoshiko muttered. “Tell me, Zuramaru, why did you really drop the ‘zura?’”

Hanamaru frowned, her eyes looking anywhere but at Yoshiko, before her gaze dropped to her feet.

“Doesn’t matter,” Hanamaru said quietly, studying her feet as if they were the most interesting discovery.

Yoshiko sighed, resting the back of her head on her palms as she looked up at the clouded sky.

“Jeez, when did things get so complicated?” Yoshiko mused aloud. “Things were way easier in kindergarten.”

“That’s for sure,” Hanamaru agreed, exhaling slowly. Sticky hands and ghost stories had been Hanamaru’s biggest concerns back then. Now it was fitting in – the hardest task she’d ever faced.

“…Do you really mean what you said?” Yoshiko asked gently after a few moments of silence, where both girls were reflecting on their pasts.

Hanamaru nodded. “Of course. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

Yoshiko didn’t respond. Instead, she licked her lips absentmindedly.

“You should bring back zura,” Yoshiko eventually said. Hanamaru blinked, before she actually laughed.

“There’s no way I’m doing that,” Hanamaru said.

“Why? It was cute,” Yoshiko said. Hanamaru rolled her eyes.

“Maybe in kindergarten, Yoshiko, but not in high school,” Hanamaru pointed out.

Yoshiko shrugged. “I disagree.”

Hanamaru frowned. “Well, it really doesn’t matter what you think. It matters what everyone else thinks.”

Then, when she realized what she was saying, her eyes widened.

Yoshiko smirked. “And the truth comes out. You and I are more similar than I thought.”

Hanamaru sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around her. It was only her and Yoshiko on the rooftop, but she felt like she was on display. Too vulnerable, too soon.

“I guess you could say I’m a hypocrite,” Hanamaru said. Yoshiko shrugged.

“Maybe, but who cares? I don’t,” Yoshiko said. “You wanna know something, Hanamaru?”

“What?” Hanamaru echoed, her eyes darting up to meet Yoshiko’s gaze, who was looking surprisingly resolute.

The raven-haired girl smiled.

“I think if the world can handle a fallen angel, like you say, they can handle a pretty girl who drops a ‘zura’ every once in a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> has anyone seen that rap battle between nico and natsukif from doki doki, because if you have, i hope you'll agree with me on how nico's rap was a trillion times better despite what the brainwashed commmenters said
> 
> ...or maybe im just bitter 
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed Yohane Attacks  
disclaimer: it's not because im biased okay natsuki was my fav doki doki character nico's rap was just better


	6. Let's Make a PV

Chika laughed giddily into her pillow while Riko snacked on chocolates. They had purchased a box on the way home to celebrate the School Idol club officially having six members.

“This is going exactly as planned!” Chika cheered, lifting her head to reveal her toothy grin to Riko.

“Is it really?” Riko asked. She was pretty sure that Chika never _had _a plan.

“Well, there’s been some miscalculations, but otherwise things have been pretty smooth sailing,” Chika said, sighing in relief. She was happy that finally things were starting to turn out for her. Usually when she tried to do new things they epically blew up in her face, but this was different. She was succeeding. And that was a great feeling.

“I have to say, I am happy with how things are going,” Riko agreed. After she had joined the School Idol group, she wasn’t sure if Chika could pull off garnering any more members. But now they were really coming along. “Aqours is becoming a real School Idol group.”

“That’s right! I bet all the other groups are threatened by us,” Chika declared, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “We’re aiming right for the top!”

Riko giggled at Chika’s antics. Her unyielding passion and constant excitement felt like a breath of fresh air for Riko. The fact that she was so attractive didn’t hurt either.

“Riko? What’s your face all red for?” Chika’s question startled Riko back into reality, and she slapped her hands onto her hot cheeks in order to force the blush back down.

“N-No reason!” she squeaked.

“I smell something suspicious. And I don’t think it was Shiitake.”

Before Riko could even think of how to respond to that statement, Chika’s phone started ringing from under her pillow, blasting a popular techno beat.

“I wonder who’s calling me,” Chika muttered, tucking her hand under the pillow and grabbing her phone. “Ho-ho-ho! It’s Miss Full Steam Ahead herself!” Chika clicked the answer button and brought the phone to her ear. “Hey You! Yeah, I’m at home…What’s up?”

Riko watched as Chika paused to listen, picking at her nails absentmindedly.

“Well, I would, but Riko’s over right now…Wanna say hi?! Yeah…yeah, that’s fine. Sorry about that…Okay, cool.” Chika moved the phone away from her ear and turned on speakerphone.

“_Hey, Riko!” _You’s voice crackled through Chika’s phone, sounding as joyful as always.

“Hi You!” Riko replied. “How are you doing?”

“_I’m fine! Just kind of wiped. Had a tough practice today,_” You explained. “_How about you? Hopefully Chika’s not bugging you too bad._”

“You!” Chika pouted.

Riko laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m handling her just fine.”

“_Okay, good. Wouldn’t want her to chase you away._”

“Don’t bully me you guys, or I’ll report you to Dia,” Chika grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

“_NO!_” You yelped before clearing her throat. “_Uh, I mean, ha-ha, good one Chika. I’ll stop bullying you. Anyways, you two have fun, alright? I’ll see you both tomorrow!_”

“Goodnight, You!” Riko said.

“Night ya cutie-patootie!” Chika all but screamed into her phone before hanging up. “Ah, You’s the best.”

Riko smiled at the orange-haired girl in amusement. “She certainly is.”

Riko had been worried at first that You wouldn’t be a fan of her. Chika had basically dragged Riko in, and of course Riko appreciated her friendship more than anything, but she didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes.

But You had seemed to have warmed up to her, and now the two got along really well. Riko swore she fell into friendship so naturally with both You and Chika that it felt like they’d been together for ages.

For the first time in a long time, Riko really felt like she was accepted.

You sat on her bed, her eyes staring at her screen while she clutched a pillow tight to her chest, ignoring the grinding feeling in her chest. This was so childish. There was no reason for her to be feeling this way. She liked Riko, and it wasn’t like she was taking Chika away.

You clenched her eyes and tossed her phone into her pillow.

“Dammit!”

“I don’t understand what you’re so happy about,” Riko muttered as Chika did a little victory dance in the clubroom. They were all gathered there for a meeting after it had been disclosed to the student body that Uranohoshi would be closing down.

“This is the conflict for our epic story, don’t you see!” Chika said like it was obvious. “We’re going to have an amazing climax.”

“Never say those words again,” You deadpanned.

“Fallen angels weren’t meant for such insignificant institutions anyways,” Yoshiko said with her signature Yohane-esque smirk.

“You do realize that even if this school shuts down, we’ll have to transfer to another school, zura?” Hanamaru pointed out.

“A girl can dream!” Yoshiko squawked.

Hanamaru had reintroduced the ‘zura’ quirk back into her speech, and it took the others some getting used to. It didn’t affect Ruby all that much considering Hanamaru would sometimes let it slip every once in a while, and Yoshiko could care less, but it still caught the second years off guard sometimes.

“What does your sister think, Ruby?” You asked.

Chika looked at her smugly. “Why do you care?”

“Stop giving me that look, Chika. I’m asking because she’s the student council president.”

“I’m not sure, to be honest,” Ruby admitted. “I think she’s pretty stressed out about it, but she hasn’t brought it up to me.”

“She has no need to be stressed. The School Idol club will take care of it!” Chika said.

“How exactly?” Riko asked.

Chika, as if waiting for this moment, zipped over to the laptop and started typing furiously. The other members exchanged confused looks, wondering what she could possibly be looking up.

Chika, after finding what she was looking for, rotated the laptop towards them and grinned.

“Isn’t this μ's?” Ruby asked, recognizing the popular group immediately.

“Yep!” Chika chirped proudly. “Let’s make a PV, girls!”

“You genuinely believe that the School Idol club, run by that orange haired baboon and You Watanabe, can save this school?!” Dia said in disbelief. Mari had said crazy things before, but she was hitting a new low.

“Si! Thanks for repeating what I just said,” Mari said with a grin, running her fingers along her desk.

Dia shook her head. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now, you have way too much faith in that group.”

“I think the amount of faith I have is fitting,” Mari said with a shrug. “I think that you are far too hard on them.”

“I’m just being realistic, Mari,” Dia said. “They’ve done well so far, but that’s mostly due to luck. They haven’t faced any real challenges yet. And once they do, they’ll be ill-equipped to face them.”

“I wouldn’t be so certain my pessimistic friend,” Mari said, wagging her finger.

“I’m not pessimistic! I’m realistic,” Dia reiterated. Mari rolled her eyes.

“That’s what pessimists say, donna,” Mari said.

“No matter. I didn’t come here to argue with you, I just wanted to see if the rumor was true,” Dia said. She sighed, and Mari could see the stress written all over her face. “It’s one problem after another at this place.”

Mari rose from her seat, shooting Dia a friendly smile.

“You don’t have to shoulder it all on your own, Dia,” Mari said. “This school is important to those girls, just like how it is important to you and me. We can save this place together.”

Dia blinked.

“As the only competent person here, I think we can agree it’s up to me.”

Thoughts coursed through Mari’s head as she rode the elevator to the top floor. Why did Dia have to be so annoying? If she was just willing to work alongside the School Idols, and not against them, things would be so much easier.

_This doesn’t seem like her at all, _Mari thought to herself, before she hesitated. It had been two years. That’s a lot of time, and plenty of time for someone to change.

But still. Every time she spoke with Dia, she felt like she was up a putting a façade. Like the way she spoke wasn’t really how she felt. Dia had been the one who had been so obsessed with School Idols in the first place, after all. So why was she acting this way? What was she trying to prove?

Mari groaned, abandoning the thought as she realized the only way she was going to find out Dia’s intentions was straight from the source, and that seemed highly unlikely.

The elevator pinged as it arrived at the last floor, and Mari exited as the doors slid open. A butler came to greet her before she entered her private room, informing her that she had a guest.

_Now what? _Mari thought to herself, wishing everyone around her would just disappear so she could have a moment to herself.

But when she saw the person waiting for her, she immediately changed her mind.

“Kanan?” she said, surprised to find the girl sitting on her couch. She was dressed in her swim wear, and Mari wondered how long she had been waiting. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be here long,” Kanan said, rising from the couch. Mari inhaled sharply, trying to still her heart. The swimwear hugged Kanan’s slim body in all the right places.

“No, no, stay as long as you like, bella!” Mari said. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

Kanan shook her head. “I just have something I need to ask you.”

“Fire away,” Mari said.

“The school…Is it really closing down?” Kanan asked.

Mari swallowed. She had expected this question, but she had hoped Kanan had come for other reasons.

“Unfortunately, I think so,” Mari said. “It’s not official, but we seem to be heading that way.”

If this revelation bothered Kanan in any way, she didn’t show it on her face.

“I see,” was all she said, her eyes flickering around the room briefly before landing back on Mari. Their eyes locked, and Mari felt like somebody had ripped the air straight out of her lungs. “Well, that’s all I had to ask. Thanks for your time.”

Kanan made her way towards the door, and Mari quickly moved after her.

“Wait!” Mari called, and Kanan stopped in her tracks. “Aren’t you going to ask if there’s any way to save it?”

Kanan looked over her shoulder. “Is there?”

“Of course! We have the School Idol club now,” Mari said.

“That’s what you’re throwing all your chips into?” Kanan asked, twirling around. “You can’t be serious, Mari.”

“I am,” Mari said unwaveringly. “These girls are capable, and they’re hard-workers!”

“Hard-work doesn’t always guarantee good results,” Kanan pointed out, and Mari didn’t miss the meaning in words.

“That was different. These girls won’t give up. And neither should we, Kanan,” Mari said. She reached out and grasped onto Kanan’s hand, determination in her eyes. “Come on, Kanan! Being a School Idol was our dream!”

Kanan’s gaze flickered down to where Mari was holding onto her hand.

“Mari, that dream is dead.”

“There’s nothing to do in this place!” Yoshiko declared, frustration laced into her words as she plopped down onto a nearby bench. They had been filming for hours, and yet, they hadn’t been able to find any interesting content.

“Don’t say that, zura,” Hanamaru said, but she was feeling just as drained by their lack of progress. She took a seat next to Yoshiko, and eventually Ruby followed suit.

“Just a small break,” the redhead cooed, leaning her head against Hanamaru’s shoulder and closing her eyes.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I was hoping this would go a little bit better,” Chika said. You scratched her forehead, the camera in her left hand.

“Even though I’ve lived here all my life, I really felt like we had more interesting things to show,” You said. She loved the ocean, so living in such a sleepy, slow-paced seashore town had never bothered her.

“What do you think, Riko?” Chika asked. “You’re the only one who didn’t grow up around here. Do you think this place is a craphole?”

“Okay, nobody here said this place is a craphole,” You said, slightly offended.

“I don’t think that,” Riko assured. “It’s a lot different than Tokyo, though. A slower-pace is a good fit for me, but a lot of people like the big city.”

Chika visibly deflated. “I thought so.”

“That doesn’t mean everyone will dislike it,” Yoshiko said. “Just a large number of people…”

“Not helping,” Hanamaru said, shooting Yoshiko a glare, who whimpered under her gaze.

“I feel like we should still go ahead with the video,” Ruby suggested. “I mean, it can’t hurt.”

Chika looked over at Ruby, and Ruby started fidgeting under her gaze.

“Why are you l-looking at me like that?” Ruby squeaked.

“Because you’re just so precious!” Chika grinned, squeezing the girl’s cheeks once again. “That’s a great idea!”

“P-Please let me go!” Ruby said weakly.

Riko grabbed onto Chika’s collar and pulled her away from the first year, ignoring her protests steadfastly.

“Ruby’s right. We have all this footage, we might as well use it,” Riko said, still gripping onto Chika’s collar who eventually relented.

You saluted. “Aye aye! I’ll start editing the footage when I get home.”

“That makes me feel better,” Hanamaru said, laying her head on Yoshiko’s lap, who started playing with her hair. “I mean, it’d suck if all our effort was in vain, zura.”

“I’m sure it will attract some people to the school,” Yoshiko said. “Now, my little demon, what would you like-“

“Don’t make this weird,” Hanamaru said bluntly.

Yoshiko pouted, but complied and quietly ran her fingers through Hanamaru’s locks.

“Once this video gets out, we’re going to become internet sensations!” Chika declared. Riko looked at her strangely.

“Weren’t you just saying that this video was going to be a bust?” Riko asked.

Chika shrugged. “I had a change of heart.”

As Riko and Chika continued to chatter away, and the first years giggled amongst each other about something first years found funny, You suddenly felt like she was light years away, watching everything unfold through the camera’s lens instead of being there in person.

Wasn’t she supposed to be the one bantering with Chika? She felt so out of place.

With a sigh, she started looking through the footage recorded on the camera. At least she could busy herself with that.

The School Idol club watched nervously as Mari looked at the screen. After You had pulled a late night compiling all the footage together, this was where their hard work came to fruition. Once Mari approved the video, they could release it into the world and show everyone the amazing things Uranohoshi had.

Before Mari was even halfway through, though, she paused the video.

“I-Is something wrong?” Chika asked, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. Mari looked up, smiling gently.

“Yeah! This video is terribile!” Mari said. “Meaning terrible!”

“Terrible?” Chika said in shock, clutching her heart like she had just been shot. “Aren’t you being a little harsh?”

“No. The whole thing bored me out of my mind,” Mari said, leaning into her office chair. “I mean, come on. Couldn’t you guys have tried a little bit harder?”

“We did!” Yoshiko spat, annoyed. “That took us all day.”

“It looks like it took you two minutes,” Mari said with a roll of her eyes. “Although, I have to say, whoever edited this did a good job.”

“Yes,” You said under her breath, doing a mini fist pump.

“I don’t understand,” Riko said. “What was so bad about it?”

Mari looked over all of the faces of the girls in front of her. She could tell they were frustrated, but their problem was staring them right in the face.

“The issue is that I can tell that none of you really believe what you’re saying in this video,” Mari said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I can see that none of you genuinely believe that Uranohoshi is an amazing school.”

“I do believe that!” Chika countered loudly.

“Really?” Mari cocked a brow. “This video doesn’t reflect that at all. I don’t think you have any idea what makes this place special.”

Chika bit her lip in anger. Mari’s smug demeanor was really starting to get on her nerves.

“What do you know? You’ve been gone for two years!” Chika said accusingly. “How could you possibly know what makes this place special?”

“Why don’t you ask me?” Mari challenged.

Chika exchanged a look with Riko, who looked extremely alarmed, before she looked back at Mari, considering her answer. She couldn’t let her vexation get the bet of her, despite Mari’s obnoxious attitude.

“No.” 

You could understand why Chika had said no. Mari’s reasons were her own, and while they weren’t invalid, the School Idol club had to find why they themselves thought Uranohoshi was such a great school.

You tucked her hands into her pockets as she walked towards the clubroom. She knew that being a School Idol was going to be hard, but throw in the fact that the school was shutting down and they were really in the middle of a mess. Chika’s hero complex made it hard for her to see that they had some large obstacles stationed right in front of them, and You wasn’t so sure if they would able to overcome them.

She had been intending on heading straight to the clubroom, but as she passed the auditorium, she noticed something out of the corner of her eyes. It was a person, dancing on the stage.

Her interest piqued, You crept into the room, not wanting to attract any attention.

_No way, _You thought as she watched Dia dance across the stage. She twirled and spun elegantly, her dark hair drifting behind her, and You couldn’t help but be stunned. _Beautiful._

“W-Watanabe?!” Dia shrieked, freezing immediately once she realized she wasn’t the only one in the room.

You stood up, putting up her hands defensively.

“Sorry, I just wanted to see what you were doing,” You said, chuckling awkwardly. “You’re a good dancer.”

Dia averted her gaze, a faint blush tickling her cheeks.

“H-Hardly. I just got ahead of myself,” Dia said.

“You looked pretty great to me,” You said. “If Chika were here, she would ask you to join the School Idol club in an instant.”

Dia stuck up her nose. “E-Enough with the compliments, Watanabe! I can see through your ploy.”

You contemplated denying Dia’s claims, but she had been in a situation like this many times before, and she knew there was really no point.

“But, I have to say,” Dia said, grabbing You’s attention. “I appreciate that the School Idol club wants to save this school as much as I do. Although I don’t always agree with the things you do, your intentions are in the right place. The fact that you are donating so much of your time, despite being so busy…It’s inspiring.”

You blinked. Had Dia just said something nice? To her?

Dia, noticing You’s surprise, flushed a dark red.

“I-I mean that to your whole rag-tag group, Watanabe! Don’t go thinking you’re special,” Dia said, scratching the mole on her chin.

You couldn’t resist the smile that snuck onto her face.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep this one between you and me prez,” You said. “Although, I always knew that you secretly liked me.”

Dia gasped. “I-I-I…I do not!”

You chuckled to herself as Dia stalked off the stage and immediately dipped out of the auditorium.

“And you best stay out of my sight, Watanabe! I may not be so kind next time we meet!”

That was the last thing Dia said to You as she left the room, and You smirked.

“She’s pretty cute, for such a stuck-up.”

Kanan watched carefully as the idol group performed in front of the town. Chika, in the midst of the releasing of the lanterns, had jumped up and done a little speech for everyone before Aqours just started performing all of the sudden.

Despite the randomness of it all, Kanan had to admit, it was nice. They were all talented singers, their dancing wasn’t bad, and it added a great atmosphere to the already festive occasion. The only bothersome thing about it was how Mari kept glancing over at her, as if expecting some kind of reaction out of her.

Dia stood to her right, watching the performance with equal interest. Kanan had to wonder how she felt. She had been the one who had loved school idols, after all. Seeing her sister up there must have made her feel something.

“They’re not half-bad,” Kanan eventually commented. Even though it wasn’t quiet due to the singing, she couldn’t stand that the three of them were just standing there, not saying anything.

“They are quite good,” Dia agreed. “Especially Ruby.”

“I don’t think you’re particularly impartial,” Kanan said.

“I would think that your favorite would be You,” Mari said with a giggle.

Dia looked gob smacked. “N-No way!” she argued, her voice cracking. She looked positively ready to kill Mari.

“It’s joke!”

Kanan had to stop herself from snickering as well. Who knew that Dia had a crush on You? That was a funny coincidence.

“If anyone can save Uranohoshi, it’s going to be those six,” Kanan said.

Mari shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be nine.”

Dia shook her head. “Mari…”

“I’m serious you two. They want to fight for the school, and so do we,” Mari said, looking solemn. Kanan found that that sort of expression never suited Mari quite properly. “Why can’t we do it together? We don’t have to run away anymore.”

Dia shuffled in her spot, and Kanan could tell that she was starting to feel unsure. Her resolve was breaking, and it wouldn’t be long until she was roped in. She just needed a couple more pushes. And that was a good thing; Dia deserved to be a School Idol. It was where her heart belonged.

But Kanan was going to run. And she knew Mari couldn’t catch her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that these chapters are kind of loaded, but it's hard to compress an entire episode into one chapter without going on for too long 
> 
> one things that kind of makes me sad about love live is that sunshine didn't get as popular as the original series, cause i actually really liked the characters. 
> 
> anyways, enough of my rambling. hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! romance is more apparent in later chapters btw :P


	7. TOKYO

“Alright, Aqours!” Chika said, ruler stick in hand as she stood in front of the whiteboard. She had scribbled a bunch of unintelligible things on the whiteboard, leaving the others puzzled. “I have some exciting news!”

“Hit us with it!” You cheered.

“Since our recent music video did so well, we’ve been invited to an event in Tokyo!” Chika exclaimed, slapping the ruler against the board. “You can see that I wrote that right here.”

Riko’s right eye twitched. “Totally.”

“No way, seriously!” Ruby said with excitement, her eyes gleaming.

“Yes way, little Ruby!” Chika said. Ruby didn’t know how to feel about being called ‘little Ruby.’ “Since we’re in the top hundred, we made it.”

“Wow, we’re in the top hundred?” Hanamaru asked, genuinely surprised.

“That’s a lot better than 4999th,” You pointed out.

“Of course we’re in the top one hundred!” Yoshiko said. “My fallen angel powers have attracted viewers not only from across the seven seas, but from both the heavenly and demon realms!”

“No way, really?” Ruby said, looking genuinely impressed by Yoshiko.

“I wish you could hear yourself speak, zura,” Hanamaru said. 

“I utter no lie,” Yoshiko said with a sly smirk.

“You’re a total liar, Yoshiko!”

“No I’m not! And it’s Yohane!”

“So, are we going?” Riko asked.

Chika looked astonished that she even asked. “Of course we are! This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“Tokyo! That’s so cool,” Hanamaru said, stars in her eyes.

“I bet they have lots of uniforms,” You said, equally enamored with the idea of going.

“I’m glad that everyone’s excited, but who’s going to be paying for this?” Riko asked. Chika shrugged.

“I’m sure the student council has some funds in its treasury. It’s not like they spend it on anything else, the stingy thieves,” Chika muttered, sounding bitter for some reason.

“Maybe Mari will sponsor us, or something,” You suggested. “She does want to save the school.”

“I feel bad using someone else’s money, zura,” Hanamaru admitted.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff,” Chika said, swatting the air as if it were an insignificant detail. “She’s got boatloads of cash. I think she’ll be okay.”

“I can’t believe she didn’t cough up a single dime,” Chika said sourly. Riko rolled her eyes.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have said straight to her face that, as the chairwoman, she should be funding the School Idol trip,” Riko said dryly.

“I thought she was a woman who appreciated honesty,” Chika said.

“By the way, what are you wearing?” Riko asked, looking over Chika dubiously. She was dressed in a pink frilly skirt, a pink sweatshirt, and had the audacity to wear a unicorn horn.

“I’m cosplaying, of course! We’re going to Tokyo, after all.”

“What are you cosplaying as?” Riko asked.

“A high school girl.”

“We’re here, zura!”

Ruby and Chika turned to see Hanamaru and Ruby standing there, and Riko felt her jaw drop. Hanamaru was dressed like she had just been stationed at the Sado kinzan mine, as she was literally holding a pickaxe, and Ruby looked just as outrageous as Chika.

“What are you guys wearing?” Chika snorted.

“Speak for yourself,” Riko said with an eye-roll.

“I have to be prepared for all environments, zura!” Hanamaru explained, adjusting her grip on her pickaxe.

“I looked up some outfits online for Tokyo visitors,” Ruby said sheepishly, looking over her outfit. “Did I go over board?”

“Totally!” Chika snickered, completely oblivious to how awful she looked.

Riko groaned into her hand, and wondered if You was faring any better. Her and Yoshiko would be meeting the group at the station, after all.

“Oh god,” You muttered as Yoshiko bumped into another person on the bus with her wings.

“Maybe I should have waited to put these on,” Yoshiko said, mostly to herself. She was addressed in full dark angel attire (whatever that was), but You had to say, the wings really took the cake.

“That might not have been a bad idea,” You said, wishing she could disappear. She was dressed completely normal, but she didn’t want to get roped in with Yoshiko.

“Whatever. I couldn’t wait that long. This is the time for me to unveil my true self!” Yoshiko declared, swatting somebody else nearby with her wings as she turned to face You. She scratched her chin, all of the sudden looking bashful. “I-It looks good, right?”

This was a question You didn’t know how to answer. It wasn’t that she looked bad. She looked like a fallen angel, that’s for sure. But You didn’t really know if it was an appropriate look for someone just hanging around Tokyo.

You smiled. “You look great.”

“Sweetness,” Yoshiko said, sighing in relief. She didn’t want to look like a crazy person, or something.

As the School Idol group waited to arrive in Tokyo, Ruby couldn’t chase a reoccurring thought out of her head. Her eyes kept glimpsing towards her phone: her and her sister were her screen saver, and it had been that way for years.

_Don’t worry about what other people think, okay Ruby?_

That is what Dia had said to her, after, surprisingly, allowing Ruby permission to join the others on the trip to Tokyo. Not that it was really Dia’s choice to make, but her older sister did have a lot of sway on their parents’ decisions. Ruby appreciated that her sister was behind her, though.

The wonder of Tokyo seemed to be distracting the others from the fact that they were tackling a real, big name competition. And Ruby didn’t blame them; she would have been sucked in as well into the grandeur of the big city if Dia hadn’t spoken to her first.

“Hey, you okay?” Hanamaru said, resting a hand onto Ruby’s shoulder. “You look a little concerned.”

Ruby shook her head steadfastly. “I’m fine! Don’t worry. I was just thinking about something.”

“Okay,” Hanamaru said, looking unsure, but opting not to press. “Well, if there’s every anything on your mind, you can always come to me.”

Ruby smiled. “Of course!”

But this wasn’t something she was so sure that it would be helpful to disclose.

Riko meandered behind everyone else as they walked up the steps towards the shrine. She was thoroughly drained after chasing everyone around to make sure they didn’t get lost. Everyone seemed to have made it their goal to frustrate Riko as much as possible, and now she was completely wiped.

“Did you get any good fallen angel merch, zura?”

“Meh, not really. Nothing I didn’t already have.”

“That’s a cool shrine maiden outfit you’re wearing, You!”

“Thanks Chika! I really wanted to look the part. I mean, if I have it, I gotta wear it!”

“Oh my god,” Riko muttered under her breath, running a hand through her crimson locks. This is what she got for befriending small town girls.

As they continued to head up the stairs, though, Riko started to pick on something. She listened attentively, and realized that it was music.

“Is someone singing up there?” Riko wondered aloud.

“I don’t hear anyone,” Chika said, before her eyes widened. “Maybe it’s the spirits of the shrine?!”

“You think so?” You asked, looking herself over. “Shoot! They’re going to realize I’m a fake.”

“Spirits of the shrine?” Yoshiko repeated, darkly chuckling to herself. “Such things are no match for Yohane-“

Hanamaru smacked Yoshiko on the arm. “Not here, zura.”

Ruby fell into step next to Riko, looking equally confused.

“I hear something too,” Ruby admitted, peering up at the top of the stairs. “I would hate to interrupt someone practicing…”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Riko reasoned. “I’m curious as to why they’d be practicing here of all places.”

“I guess we gotta find out!” Chika said before charging up the stairs.

The rest of the girls picked up their paces and flew up the stairs, and when they saw two girls standing in front of the shrine, Riko realized that her suspicions had rung true.

They were harmonizing beautifully together, their voices filling up the typical quietness of the shrine. There was something truly beautiful about it, and Riko didn’t know if it was just their voices, or the fact that it felt like they were bringing life to the shrine.

When they came to a close, Chika started clapping heartily.

“Super mega awesome!” she chirped, utterly impressed. “That was the best shrine-singing I’d ever seen!”

“I’m going to bet it’s the only shrine-singing you’ve ever seen,” Riko pointed out, and Chika shot her a look and then carried on with her clapping.

“Thanks,” the taller one said with a smile that put Riko off. “The acoustics of the shine are really nice, and usually nobody is up here, so we thought it’d be a good place to sing.”

“Well you thought right! That was great,” Chika said eagerly.

The taller one’s gaze scanned the group, her eyes looking over each member until they finally landed on Chika once again.

“You guys are Aqours, right?” she eventually asked, and Chika felt like she had just had a heart palpitation.

“No way! You know us?” Chika gawked, looking at the other members in amazement before she turned back to the two girls. She had never been recognized like that in her life.

“Yeah, I watched your most recent music video. It was good,” the girl complimented.

“Oh wow,” Chika said gleefully. “Be still, my heart.”

“That’s cool,” You cut in as Chika continued to giggle joyously to herself. “Are you guys into School Idols?”

“You could say that,” the tall girl said. “Are you all here for the upcoming School Idol event?”

“Yeah, we are,” You replied.

The tall girl smiled, and You wasn’t sure whether or not she liked it.

“Well, good luck in that. We should really head off,” the girl said. “By the way, I’m Sarah, and this is my little sister, Leah.”

Leah, instead of introducing herself, merely nodded.

“Hopefully we’ll see you guys later,” Sarah said, smiling to each one of them until she walked past them.

Leah hung behind, and You watched her carefully. She bowed lowly before, abruptly, running full speed towards the group of girls.

Everyone braced themselves for impact, but You didn’t hesitate as the girl ran closer before leaping up in the air and flipping right over all of them. The fact that she was able to pull that off without something propelling her in the air was an amazing feat.

Leah landed perfectly and then, without another word, took off after her sister.

“No way…” Ruby muttered, star struck.

“What kind of demon powers was that?!” Yoshiko exclaimed.

“It’s the future, zura!”

You frowned.

“Tch. Show off.”

Hanamaru licked her lips for the umpteenth time as Aqours watched Saint Snow perform.

You had said herself that she felt like there was something off about Sarah and Leah, but Hanamaru would have never guessed that they were School Idols themselves. Especially ones who were way more popular than Aqours.

Nervousness bundled up in her stomach, and she took deep breaths to calm herself down. Getting worked up right before the biggest performance thus far in her life wasn’t going to help her perform any better. She just had to put it all out on the floor.

Hanamaru looked over to see how the rest of Aqours was reacting. You was in a corner, stretching and mutterings things under her breath. You was used to the spirit of competition, so Hanamaru guessed that she wasn’t as freaked out as everyone else was.

Riko and Chika were speaking quietly to one another, and Hanamaru watched as they laced their fingers together, both of them sharing a sickeningly sweet smile. Hanamaru started smiling at their interaction herself. The two of them were really starting to get close, and the rest of the members weren’t oblivious to it.

“Hey, Hanamaru?” a quiet voiced said, and Hanamaru turned to see her best friend.

“Ruby?” Hanamaru said. “Is everything okay?”

Ruby blinked, as if caught off guard by the question, before smiling.

“Oh, yeah, I’m okay. My sis talked to me beforehand, so I feel alright,” Ruby said reassuringly. “I actually wanted to talk to you about Yoshiko.”

“Yoshiko?” Hanamaru repeated. “What about her, zura?”

“I just think she’s freaking out a little,” Ruby said, bobbing her head subtly in Yoshiko’s direction so the girl wouldn’t realize they were talking about her.

Hanamaru peeked over quickly to see that Yoshiko was looking ghostly pale, paler than she usually did, and that her hands were screwed into tight fists.

“That’s not good,” Hanamaru said.

“I think you should talk to her,” Ruby suggested. 

“Me, zura?” Hanamaru said, surprised. “Shouldn’t someone more confident help her, like You?”

Ruby looked at her like she was silly, and Hanamaru all of the sudden felt very shy.

“Maybe, but I think we both know who gives Yoshiko the most confidence out of all of us,” Ruby said with a smile so knowing that it caught Hanamaru off guard. The sort of thing didn’t really suit the red-haired girl. Or, maybe, Hanamaru just wasn’t used to it.

“O-Okay, zura,” Hanamaru said, trying to fire up any resolve in her.

“Good luck,” Ruby said with a wink, _a wink_, before she walked over to You and struck up a conversation with the second year. Hanamaru felt unraveled after that whirlwind of a conversation, but she also felt oddly impressed by Ruby.

_Alright, _Hanamaru thought to herself, setting her sights on Yoshiko. _Here goes nothing._

She walked over to her fellow first year, clearing her throat to get her attention.

“O-Oh, Zuramaru,” Yoshiko said, and Hanamaru could see her visibly swallow. “W-What’s up? What brings you into Yohane’s presence?”

“I just wanted to see if you were okay, zura,” Hanamaru said.

Yoshiko had half a mind to look appalled.

“Me? Okay?” Yoshiko repeated. “Of course I’m okay! I’m a fallen angel, after all…” Yoshiko trailed off, something flashing in her gaze. “Well, maybe not.”

Hanamaru cocked a brow. “Maybe you’re not okay? Or maybe you’re not a fallen angel?”

“Of course I’m a fallen angel!” Yoshiko squawked. “But, maybe I’m not as okay as I’d like you to think.”

“It’s alright,” Hanamaru said with a warming smile. “It’s okay not to be okay, Yoshiko.”

“I just feel like this is bad timing,” Yoshiko said, her gaze flickering towards the stage before it landed back on Hanamaru. “I mean, we’re about to perform, and I’m totally going to blow it!”

“Don’t say that,” Hanamaru said, clasping Yoshiko’s hands in her own. “It’s okay to be nervous, but don’t say that you’re going to blow it. Because you’re not. I know you, and I know that you are extremely talented, and beautiful, and that you are totally going to kill it out there.”

Yoshiko’s cheeks reddened, and her gaze softened as she locked eyes with Hanamaru. It was surprisingly vulnerable, and Hanamaru felt her heart catch in her throat.

“Y-You really think so?”

“I know so!” Hanamaru said. “And I’m going to be right with you the whole time. Just like how I’m going to be right beside you whenever things get hard, okay? So be nice to yourself for once. I know that’s tough for you, zura.”

Yoshiko looked deeply contemplative for half a moment, and Hanamaru wondered if she had gone too far.

“You promise?” Yoshiko asked. Hanamaru furrowed her brow.

“Promise what?”

“That you’ll be beside me when things get hard,” Yoshiko said, her cheeks flushing darker and darker with every word that slipped out of her mouth.

“Of course,” Hanamaru said so truthfully that it resonated with every part of her soul.

What Yoshiko did next caught her off guard.

She leaned in at lightning speed and gave Hanamaru the faintest of pecks on the cheek before pulling back, her eyes looking anywhere but at the girl standing in front of her.

“There. I sealed the contract,” Yoshiko mumbled, scratching her neck.

Hanamaru felt a wave of warmness course through her veins, and a flaming hotness because to rise up in her neck, getting all the way to her cheeks that burned hotly.

“Y-Yoshiko?” she stuttered dumbly.

Yoshiko shook her head, whispering something into Hanamaru’s ear before brushing past her.

“It’s Yohane.”

“What’s with you and Kanan and sneaking into my apartment?”

Mari chuckled to herself as Dia hovered over her, her arm successfully trapping Mari against the wall. The blonde guessed this was something she read in one of those weird fanfictions she liked.

“We aren’t here to talk about Kanan,” Dia said. “We should have dissuaded those girls from going to Tokyo.”

“Why’s that?” Mari asked coyly. “You jealous?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Mari,” Dia said. “You know exactly what is going to happen to them down there. And it’s going to tear them apart.”

Mari shrugged. “You don’t know that for sure.” She continued on even when Dia tried to cut her off, “And even if things go poorly, I suspect that they’ll only come back stronger than ever.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Dia said.

“Dia, they’re different from you, me, and Kanan,” Mari said. “They have fight.”

Dia winced. “We had fight.” She almost sounded offended.

“Maybe at first,” Mari said, looking somewhat mournful. “But we lost it. Kanan couldn’t sing, and it was over.”

“Don’t act like this is Kanan’s fault,” Dia said lowly, anger emanating in her eyes.

Mari smiled. “I wasn’t. You jumped to that conclusion yourself.”

Dia hesitated, like she was trying to choose whether or not she should choke Mari out or just leave, and Mari giggled.

“You always did have such a soft spot for Kanan,” Mari said.

Dia chewed her lower lip, deigning to not dignify Mari’s words with a response.

“Even when she didn’t deserve it,” Mari pressed on.

Dia glared at her. “Are you taunting me?”

“Maybe~”

Dia peered out the window of the hotel, as if expecting to see a flashlight waving in the distance.

“It’s bad form to talk about someone who isn’t around,” she said eventually.

“It’s bad form to be a bad friend,” Mari said. “And that’s what Kanan has been to you.”

“Kanan has a lot on her plate,” Dia said, dropping her hand that was on the wall to let it dangle by her side. 

“So do you,” Mari pointed out.

Mari could see the frustration boiling over in Dia’s eyes. The raven haired girl had always been bad at not externalizing her emotions.

“I didn’t come here to talk about Kanan.”

“And yet, here we are,” Mari said, the lilt in her voice only proving to aggravate Dia further.

“What’s your angle here?!” she finally shouted.

Mari didn’t even flinch.

“I just think that it’s a little funny, is all,” Mari said.

“And what’s so funny?” Dia snapped.

Mari giggled behind her hand.

“That fact that we’re both a little in love with Kanan~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so you know, i think they were really bang on with saint snow. sarah and leah are both really good singers and even though i felt like they weren't as impactful as A-RISE in terms of being really popular rivals (although they did get more screen time come season 2), their songs were bops. 
> 
> despite this, i just can't help but laugh everytime leah says a line in the chorus during believe again. it just sounds so dumb. maybe it's just me but my god i can't take that song seriously.


	8. Isn't it Frustrating?

You couldn’t remember the last time she came last place in anything.

She was accustomed to the sting of a harsh loss, but this was on a whole other level. They hadn’t received a single vote. Not one.

Chika had tried to remain optimistic. It was one of their best performances thus far, and the fact that they were invited at all was still one amazing accomplishment.

But You could sense the dejection everyone else was feeling, and she could see right through Chika’s giggles and fake smiles.

She was crushed on the inside, too.

You could take the loss. That she could handle. But it was the smug words that Sarah and Leah had said to them that kept replaying over and over and over again in her head.

_You’re probably better off not keeping in Love Live._

You felt a wave of rage course through her, and she abruptly punched the back of the seat in front of her. Of course her hand hit nothing but plastic, so the person sitting there didn’t even notice, but the throbbing pain in her hand reminded her that, yes, she really had done that.

“You,” Riko admonished lightly, grasping onto You’s hand. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

You felt nothing but white hot anger and ripped her hand out of Riko’s grip.

“I can take care of myself,” she spat, before her eyes widened. Had she really just said that?

Riko looked equally shocked by You’s words, and her expression flickered from looking mortally wounded to deep sadness.

“S-Sorry,” Riko mumbled, tucking herself into her seat. You felt her heart drop in her chest. She hadn’t meant to do that at all.

“N-No, Riko,” You said, but before she could apologize, Riko stood up from her seat and went to join Chika in a different aisle.

You’s lower lip trembled. Why did she have to go and do that? Riko was just trying to be nice.

But it felt like everything was falling apart. Aqours bombed it at Tokyo, Uranohoshi was probably closing down, and Riko was slowly taking Chika away from her. These thoughts continued to swirl around in You’s mind, and she pulled her hood over her head and scowled.

_I don’t care, I don’t care._

That was the mantra she repeated to herself the entire way home.

Dia watched as the Aqours girls came into view, taking a deep breath once she noticed the depressed looks on all of their faces. When Ruby had been unwilling to disclose how they had done over the phone, she knew that it hadn’t gone well.

Ruby looked up, her eyes locking with her sisters, and immediately she descended into sobs. She dropped her luggage and ran over to her sister, jumping into her arms.

“Sis!” Ruby cried into her shoulder, her tears staining Dia’s clothing.

Dia rubbed her back comfortingly, a sadness she had long since locked away resurfacing in her heart. She knew exactly how Ruby and the rest of the girls were feeling.

“I know.”

“You guys were in a School Idol group too?” Chika said in surprise. They were all seated on the steps. Ruby had since then calmed down, and now had her head laying in her sister’s lap.

“Yes, we were. And we went to that same Tokyo event you guys just went too,” Dia said, memories flooding her head.

“Wow! You guys must have been pretty good,” Chika said, impressed.

“I like to think that we were,” Dia said with a smile.

“How did you guys do, zura?” Hanamaru asked, and that’s when everyone zeroed in on Dia with all of their attention.

“If it makes you feel any better, we did worse than you guys,” Dia said.

Yoshiko snorted. “I don’t really think that’s possible.”

“Trust me, it is,” Dia said. “Because we didn’t even perform.”

“Why not?” Riko asked.

“I think it was a mixture of things,” Dia said. “We were small town girls competing against big city contenders. We got really scared, and I think Kanan’s nerves got the better of her. You should be proud that you were able to perform at all.”

Chika looked shocked. “Kanan?!”

Dia hummed. “Surprised me too. So be proud of yourselves.”

“I guess so,” Riko said.

“Still, I was hoping we would get more than zero votes!” Yoshiko said. Hanamaru stared her down, eliciting a gulp from the fallen angel, but Dia just laughed.

“That’s fair. But that’s the name of a competition,” Dia said, shrugging. “Somebody has to lose. And this time, it just happened to be you.”

Everyone silenced as if to take time to mull over Dia’s words. The heartbreak was fresh and raw, so they were still going to ache for a while, but the student council president was doing a good job at treating it.

Even so, Dia noticed that someone was particularly sour, and the person who it was surprised her.

“Watanabe?” Dia called out to You, who was staring out at the road, looking completely out of it.

You blinked several times, her blurred vision focusing as she looked over to Dia.

“Yeah?” she said, forcing a smile. Dia could tell she was drained.

“May I speak with you for a moment?” Dia asked.

You’s eyes flickered around the group, feeling like she had missed something, before she shrugged.

“Sure.”

Dia explained to everyone else that their discussion would be brief, and she was happy to find that the rest of Aqours descended into conversation as she and You walked over to a nearby bench.

You plopped down, pretending to be okay.

“What’s up, prez?”

“Watanabe, I understand that you are fresh off a loss,” Dia said, wondering if she should press on with the conversation. “But I expected better from you.”

You’s forehead creased. “Pardon?”

“As a top level athlete, you should be used to this sort of thing,” Dia pointed out. “That’s why it’s crucial, now more than ever, that you support your teammates through this. A lot of them aren’t used to this kind of loss.”

You scoffed. “Well, I’m actually not used to these sorts of losses either.”

Dia rolled her eyes. “Get over your own ego and listen to what I’m saying to you.”

“Aren’t I allowed to be upset as well?” You said, growing frustration laced in her voice. “Just because I’m used to competition doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck to lose.”

Dia frowned. “You’re lying to me.”

“What?”

“Did I stutter? You’re a liar,” Dia clipped.

You crossed her arms over her chest. “And what is it that I’m lying about, Miss All-Knowing-President?”

“You aren’t upset about the loss. At least, not as much as you’re letting on,” Dia said. “So what’s really bothering you?”

You felt a pit form in her stomach. How the heck could Dia possibly tell that there was something else on her mind? It wasn’t like they were friends. They were practically enemies. The fact that Dia could see so clearly through the walls You meticulously set up unnerved her like nothing else.

“I think you’re reading into things,” You said plainly.

“I think we both know I’m not,” Dia said. “And if you truly desire, you can continue lying to yourself and everyone else, but if you want to be the bigger person and support your group members, then you really ought to come clean. At least to yourself.”

You’s heart thudded in her chest. That was the one thing she despised the most. Being honest with her feelings. Nobody gained anything from being vulnerable. All that garnered was shame and heartbreak. And You, like any other self-respecting human being, didn’t enjoy those things.

“What’s it to you?” You spat. “Why do you care? Don’t you hate me?”

Dia breathed deeply as if to calm herself down.

“Of course I don’t hate you, you fool,” Dia said.

“The way you act towards me doesn’t really articulate that,” You hissed. “You’re constantly on my back, I’m the first to blame for any bad occurrence, and I honest to god feel like, in your eyes, I can’t do anything right!”

It felt good to get that off her chest. You always felt like Dia stacked an unfair amount of pressure on her back. You, do this. Don’t act like that. Should you really be doing that? Is that a good representation of the school? Of the swim team? Of yourself?

“I apologize.”

You just about fell off the bench when those words slipped out of Dia’s mouth like a dirty secret.

“Sorry?”

“I apologize,” Dia said, looking surprisingly placid despite the conversation they were having. “You are correct. I am far too harsh on you.” Dia peered over at You, and when their eyes locked, You felt her heart quicken its tempo. “Do you know why?”

“Is it because of the prank I pulled?” You asked.

Dia smiled. A genuine smile. It shook You to her core.

“I wanted you to think that,” Dia said, dropping You’s gaze and looking down at her own hands. “The truth is, I worry about you. A lot.”

“M-Me?” You repeated, shocked. She pointed to herself. “You worry about me?”

Dia exhaled slowly, as if this was something she wasn’t sure she wanted to disclose.

“Yes, I do,” Dia said eventually. “You see, You, a lot of students at Uranohoshi look up to you. Even third years. You are extremely kind to all your peers, you respect the staff, and you work hard in everything you do. You are the type of exceptional student that any school is lucky to have.”

You was so overwhelmed by Dia’s words that she didn’t even know what to feel. This was what Dia truly thought of her? She didn’t hate her?

“Because you are such an extraordinary person, I didn’t want you to lose your way,” Dia explained. “That tends to happen to people like you. I didn’t want you to lose your spark. So when I found out that you of all people had pulled that stupid prank, I snapped.”

You recalled when Dia had found out that she had been the one who had screwed with the Uranohoshi website. She had never been yelled at before like that. Not from her parents, her teachers, or even her closest friends.

“That’s when my actions took a turn for the…fanatic,” Dia said slowly, likely not wanting to admit it herself. “I wanted to keep you on your toes at all times. Made sure you were working to the best of your abilities. I’d jump to conclusions that bad behavior exhibited in the school was because of you, because I so desperately didn’t want it to be the truth. As a student council president, and as someone older than you, I now realize that my own behavior was truly the worst out of all of the rebellious stunts pulled by students. It is actually quite disgusting the way that I acted.” Dia sucked in another deep breath. “So, if you find it hard to believe that it was all for you in the end, I don’t blame you. I certainly got way too far ahead of myself.” Dia sighed and leaned against the back of the bench. “I tend to do that.”

You felt the world had just flipped on its head. Everything she had thought about Dia, every misconceived notion she had formed in her head about the student council president, withered and died. This was the most shocking revelation of her life, and she felt like she had just belly-flopped into the water and had the wind knocked out of her.

“I will stop pestering you like I always do,” Dia said once she realized You wasn’t going to say anything. “But I need you to promise me something.”

You nodded. “S-Sure, Dia.”

Dia looked her intently in the eyes, a smile gracing her lips that sent tingles running up and down You’s spine like a pianists’ fingers running along keys.

“Be strong for the other girls, but don’t forget about your own feelings too,” Dia said.

And then she frowned.

“Talk to Riko and Chika, or else your emotions will destroy you.”

After You and Dia’s conversation wrapped up, they rejoined the others before they all went their separate ways. Riko had headed off with Chika, and despite the orange-haired girl’s good nature, Riko could tell that something was wrong.

They were both standing on the beach silently when Riko’s phone rang.

Riko pried it out of her pocket, surprised to see that You was calling of all people. Initially she was hesitant to answer, considering the last interaction the two had had wasn’t the most positive, but then decided against it.

“Hello?” Riko said in the phone.

“_Riko! Thank god. I didn’t think you’d pick up,_” You answered from across the line.

“Y-You,” Riko said, trying to work up some courage. “I want to apo-“

“_Stop right there,_” You said. “_You definitely shouldn’t be apologizing right now. I should have never snapped at you, especially when you had nothing but good intentions._”

Riko hesitated. “But still, I should have realized that you were upset.”

“_Get out of town! You tried to help me because I was upset, and that makes you a great friend. I was just being a little baby. I just wanted to tell you how genuinely sorry I am and that I truly appreciate your friendship._”

Riko sighed in relief. She had been working herself up about how she was going to resolve things with You, so it was refreshing that things had wrapped up so nicely.

“I appreciate you too, You,” Riko said.

“_Aye aye! That’s good to hear,_” You chirped. “_Now, I’m guessing that your with Chika right now._”

“What? How did you know?” Riko squeaked, her cheeks flushing.

“_Mostly because I’m a genius. Now, listen to me. You and I both know that Chika’s more upset than she’s letting on. And it’s up to you to get it out of her._”

“M-Me?” Riko stuttered.

“_No, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yes you,_” You joked. “_You got this, okay?_”

“You?” Riko cried, but she could hear You’s voice drop from the conversation. She had hung up.

Riko turned to Chika, and saw that the girl was completely zoned out. She was probably oblivious to the fact that her and You had conversed at all.

_Alright, You, _Riko thought, courage swelling in her belly. _If you think I got this, then so do I._

Mari sat on her sundeck, pondering Aqours’ recent loss. She couldn’t help but feel awful for them, but hoped that they would be able to bounce back quickly. They should still be proud despite their shortcomings. They had come a long way.

That’s when Mari saw a flickering light in the distance, and her heart soared.

She walked down the dock, happy to see that it had been Kanan holding the light after all. She was dressed in a blue sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, but Mari still thought she looked like a super model.

“It’s been a while since we met up like this,” Mari pointed out.

“It has,” Kanan agreed.

A gust of wind suddenly blew off the water, catching both of the girls’ hair in its wake before it drifted away.

“So, what did you call me here for?” Mari asked. “Are we having a secret rendezvous? How romantica!”

Kanan merely ignored her.

“What are you going to do?” Kanan asked.

Mari cocked a brow. “About?”

“Saving the school,” Kanan said. “Didn’t Aqours come last in their competition in Tokyo?”

“How did you know about that?” Mari asked, genuinely curious.

Kanan shrugged, and a grin began to grow on Mari’s face. The fact that Kanan knew about it at all only meant that she was actually interested.

“Well, if that’s what you came to clarify, then, yes, they did come last,” Mari confirmed.

Kanan sighed. “I knew this would happen.”

“It’s only one competition Kanan,” Mari said. “They’ll bounce back.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Mari,” Kanan said. “Love Live is just around the corner, and they just came dead last in one of the biggest competitions prior to it. I knew that cashing all your chips into them was only going to lead to nothing, but you did it anyways.”

Mari shook her head, moving her index finger from side to side coyly.

“Until the game’s over you never know what might happen.”

“This isn’t a game!” Kanan’s voice rose out of the blue, and Mari looked momentarily stunned. “Their real feelings are at stake, don’t you see?” Kanan sighed. “I should have intervened when I had the chance. We’ve done nothing but set these girls up for heartbreak.”

“It was never our choice to make, Kanan!” Mari countered. “They chose to be School Idols, and it’s up to them how they are going to react to this loss.”

“I know exactly how they’re going to react,” Kanan said.

“You have no idea,” Mari said. “Just because we gave up and quit doesn’t mean they will!”

“You are living in a delusion, Mari!” Kanan said sharply. “You are trying to live your dream through them, but we’re done. The real Aqours is gone!”

“No it’s not!” Mari said. “Everything is just within our grasp. Can’t you see that, Kanan? Things can go back to the way they were. We can be School Idols again!”

“No we can’t!”

“Yes we can!”

Both girls quieted down once they realized that they were shouting. Mari hated this. Why did she and Kanan have to be at such an impasse? How did things get so bad to this point?

“Giving up is not the right choice in all of this,” Mari said. “You know that, Kanan.”

Kanan didn’t reply, her cool eyes staring Mari down, and the blonde felt her heart seize.

“So don’t give up on me, either,” Mari said, her heart swelling as she reached her arms out. “Please, Kanan. Give me a hug.”

Mari, despite her years of friendship with Kanan, still found times where it was impossible to read her. And this was one of them. Her face was as blank as a canvas, and she was so silent that Mari couldn’t even hear her breathing over the lapping of the waves.

Then, Kanan started walking.

Mari brightened as her friend was heading towards her, and her heart started pumping manically out of rhythm. This was it. They could do this. Together.

And then Kanan side-stepped her, and her heart shattered.

“You need to stop this. Before someone gets hurt,” Kanan said just as she passed by, before walking on as if she hadn’t said anything at all.

Mari’s lower lip trembled as tears started breaking past her eyes. Frustration, anger, and sadness were all coming to a boil in the pit of her stomach. She turned around sharply, tears spilling down her cheeks as she shouted after her ex-friend.

“You can’t run away forever! I will find you again, Kanan!” she called after the girl, who didn’t even react. “You and Dia, I’ll find you both.”

Mari dropped to a ball on the ground, clutching her knees as she sobbed softly to herself.

“Don’t you see? You two are everything to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's funny about aqours versus u's is that while u's kind of has its core ships that are most popular in the fanfiction archives (obv nicomaki, nozoeli, kotoumi, honopana sort of) aqours is extremely spread out, which i honestly think might have hurt its popularity a bit. but that's just my opinion. 
> 
> i doubt a lot of people came into this shipping DiaYou, and honestly i didn't ship it that much either, i just didn't want those two to be alone so i put them together. as i wrote this though they quickly became my favourite. it's probably because You is pretty much my fav character next to Kanan and since YouRiko didn't happen in the show (rip my soul), DiaYou it'll be (which...also didn't happen) 
> 
> hope everyone is enjoying the story so far :) things are gonna get spicy next chapter


	9. Young DREAMER

_ “I don’t get it,” Mari said, nerves crawling around in her stomach. “We’re doing so well. You can’t give up now, Kanan!” _

_Kanan couldn’t bear to look Mari in the eyes. Instead her eyes drifted towards the whiteboard. What was once filled with sketches and dance routines was now completely erased like nothing had been there at all._

_“Mari, there’s no point,” Kanan said._

_“Of course there’s a point,” Mari argued. “Don’t tell me this is about Tokyo.”_

_“It’s not just that,” Kanan said. “Mari, didn’t you recently turn down the opportunity to study abroad?”_

_Mari made a face. Why was Kanan bringing that up?_

_“Yeah, so? I turn down my dad all the time. He knows I love being here the most,” Mari said. Kanan shook her head._

_“Those opportunities… You can’t turn them away like they are nothing, Mari,” Kanan said, finally working the courage to look her best friend in the eye. She almost regretted doing so; the hurt in Mari’s eyes nearly broke her resolve. “You’re very lucky to get these chances and you can’t throw them away.”_

_“I don’t care! I’ll throw all of them away. I don’t care that I’m lucky,” Mari said stubbornly. “I want to stay here with you guys. What do you think, Dia?”_

_Dia swallowed. Clearly she hadn’t wanted to be sucked into the conversation._

_“I think Kanan is right, Mari,” Dia said slowly, like she was reciting off a script. “You could have a real future. Something that can’t be found here.”_

_“No! You’re wrong,” Mari said._

_“You know we’re right,” Kanan said. “Dia agrees with me.”_

_Dia nodded._

_“I see no point continuing. The School Idol club is disbanding.”_

_ _

“Man, how lame,” Chika grumbled from where she sat in the School Idol clubroom. After they had all taken their time mourning their loss at Tokyo, they were all feeling a lot better. Despite that, there was still something gnawing at Chika that she couldn’t shake.

“What’s lame?” You asked.

“Your face,” Yoshiko said. You rolled her eyes.

“Good one, Yohane.”

Yoshiko scowled. “It’s Yoshik-Wait a second…”

“The fact that Kanan wimped out at their performance!” Chika said with a frustrated sigh. “That’s so not like her.”

“Everybody gets nervous sometimes, Chika,” Riko pointed out.

“But still. It’s Kanan we’re talking about here! That girl can do pretty much anything she sets her mind too,” Chika explained. “So the fact that the School Idol club failed, with her in it, boggles my mind.”

“Yeah, I find it strange too,” You admitted.

“Why don’t you just ask her what happened, zura?” Hanamaru asked. Chika and You exchanged a look.

“I don’t know. Kanan’s been a little sneaky in the bushes lately,” Chika said.

Riko sputtered. “P-Pardon?”

“What she _means _is that Kanan has been kind of reclusive lately,” You said. “I totally doubt that she’ll tell us even if we ask.”

“Well, wasn’t Dia really good friends with Kanan?” Yoshiko pointed out.

“Yeah, but I doubt that the prez would share anything,” You said.

Chika’s gaze flickered to Ruby, but once they locked gazes she looked inconspicuously back over at the whiteboard. A few moments later, Chika peeked over at Ruby again, who, catching her once again, squeaked.

“W-What, Chika?” Ruby asked.

“Well, Ruby,” Chika said with a growing smile. “Wouldn’t you know anything? I mean, you are Dia’s sister after all.”

Suddenly everyone’s eyes were on Ruby, and she felt a sudden unforeseen pressure pushing against her. If she spilled Dia would get mad at her, but if she didn’t spill she’d have to face her club members.

“O-Oh, I don’t really know anything,” Ruby said, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

Then, abruptly, she leapt up from her chair and yelped, bolting towards the door.

“Get her Yoshiko!” Chika shouted.

“On it!”

Yoshiko tore down the hallway after Ruby.

“Ancient Demon Art: One Thousand Finger Devil Hold!”

Chika pumped her first in success when she heard Ruby wail from down the hallway, and Hanamaru sighed.

“Poor Ruby…”

Chika had it set up so that Ruby was set up at the desk alone, and everyone else, besides her of course, was forced to stand in the corner of the room. She had her cellphone in her hand, but had the flashlight app on, and the lights in the room were turned off.

“So Ruby, what’s it gonna take for me to get you to spill?” Chika said with a grim smile, shining the light directly in Ruby’s face.

“You’re going to blind her, Chika!” Riko yelled discouragingly from the corner of the room.

“I’ll do anything for the truth!”

“I’ll spill, I’ll spill!” Ruby said.

You ran over and turned on the lights.

“There was something inhumane about that,” You muttered, and Riko hummed in agreement.

“I did overhear a conversation between my sis and Mari,” Ruby revealed. Chika stroked her chin thoughtfully.

“Interesting, very inter-“

“Would you let her finish?” Riko snapped. Chika threw up her hands in defense.

“Okay, okay!”

Ruby explained to everyone that Mari and Dia had shared a conversation, were Mari said that believed both Kanan and Dia were running away from being School Idols. Dia, on the other hand, said that she didn’t think her and Kanan were running away.

“Running away? From what?” Chika repeated.

“Your detective skills,” Yoshiko muttered under her breath.

“I still don’t know what to conclude from that,” Riko said. “I feel like we’re missing a lot of the story here.”

“It’s simple!” Chika declared, grabbing everyone’s attention. “We have to commence a stakeout.”

You blinked. “On who?”

“Kanan, of course!”

“I thought a stakeout was where you stayed up late and watched someone from the safety of a vehicle, zura,” Hanamaru said, breathing heavily as they jogged after Kanan.

“We’ve been misled,” Yoshiko said. “Right after I get home I’m placing a hex on Chika like she’s never faced befo-“

“No you aren’t,” Hanamaru said.

“Okay.”

“Jeez, Kanan runs for so long,” Chika complained, peering around at how tired everyone was before her eyes landed on You, who looked totally unfazed. “You?! You look totally fine!”

You laughed. “Well, I am an athlete. I’m used to this sort of thing.”

“You’s a god!” Chika said with starry eyes.

“I think she’s just in way better shape than all of us,” Riko said.

“Well, you’re all keeping up pretty well. Especially you, Ruby,” You said, looking impressed as Ruby kept pace alongside her.

“T-Thanks, I’ve been really working hard,” Ruby said.

Chika pouted. “I want to keep pace with You!”

“Stop eating so much bread, then,” Riko said.

They followed Kanan all the way to the top of the steps. The fact that Kanan was hardly breathing heavily at all boggled everyone’s minds, even You’s.

“So we followed her. Now what?” Riko whispered to Chika as they all hid in the bushes. Kanan was standing in the middle of the clearing, just breathing to herself.

“Just wait,” Chika said, although, truthfully, she didn’t know what to do next. She had hoped that the mystery would just start solving itself.

She was thrown off, though, when Kanan started dancing. Aqours watched with baited breath as Kanan twirled and spun around, her lithe body swaying to soundless music.

“Maestosa, Kanan!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to see Mari standing behind Kanan, clapping her hands together rapidly.

“Whoa, when did she get here?”

“Be quiet!”

“Mari,” Kanan said, her cheeks slightly pink from being caught before they returned to their natural color. “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t seem to shake me, can you?” Mari said, sticking out her tongue briefly. “I just wanted to clarify about you returning to school.”

Kanan crossed her arms over her chest.

“That’s right,” Kanan said.

“So your grandfather must be well, then?” Mari asked.

“He’s doing a lot better.”

“That’s good,” Mari said with a relieved smile. “Well, I’m happy to have you back at Uranohoshi.”

Kanan’s eyes slit.

“Just because I’m coming back to school doesn’t mean I’m becoming a School Idol,” Kanan said sharply.

Mari merely giggled, and it bothered Kanan like no other.

“I don’t recall saying that,” Mari said. “I guess that School Idols have been on your brain, then?”

“H-Hardly,” Kanan said, cursing herself as she tried to regain her footing in the conversation. “I just know that every conversation with you is just a ploy to reel me back in. But you should know that it’s never going to happen.”

Mari’s smile dropped.

“Why do you have to be like this, Kanan?” Mari asked softly. “Yes, I want you to become a School Idol more than anything, that’s true. But I talk to you because I want to. You’re one of my dear friends.”

Dear friend. Those words made Kanan feel nothing but conflict. Friend. Friend. Friend. Friend. _Friend._

“Well, I don’t want to speak with you, don’t you get that?” Kanan said harshly, and she could see that her words were immediately taking effect gauging by Mari’s expression. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Get out of my life.”

Kanan stormed off, her lower lip trembling for a moment before she bit it so hard into submission that it started to bleed.

That’s right, this was over.

Mari may have thought this was her game, but Kanan wasn’t going to play by the rules.

“Poor Mari, zura,” Hanamaru said as they all walked back down the steps. “That was really harsh of Kanan.”

“That was brutal,” Ruby agreed.

Chika grabbed her head as if she were in pain.

“Jeez, that’s not like Kanan at all! I don’t understand why she’s being such a big butt?!” Chika exclaimed in frustration.

“I wish we knew what happened in the past between those guys,” You said. “Kanan wouldn’t act like that without reason.”

“She’s coming back to school, right?” Yoshiko said. “Maybe that’ll drudge some things out, I don’t know.”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Riko said.

The girls were all gathered in the clubroom, eating their lunches absentmindedly. Thoughts of Kanan were gone as they all focused on the events of the school day.

That changed, though, when You heard something echo through the hallway.

“There’s a brawl in the third year classroom!” someone shouted, and You immediately shot out of her seat.

“A fight?” You said. “I gotta get in there!”

“No, You!” Riko shouted, but You had already zipped out of the room. Her gaze darted over to Chika. “Chika, aren’t you concerned?”

Chika shrugged as she threw a piece of orange into her mouth.

“You can handle herself,” Chika said.

“Still, a fight in the third year classroom? Aren’t you thinking what _I’m _thinking?!”

Chika shot out of her seat. 

“I gotta get in there!”

The group of them followed suit pretty quickly after You, and when they made it to the third floor, Riko wasn’t surprised at what she saw.

All the third years were staying to one side of the room save for Kanan, Mari, and Dia. Mari was holding on tightly to Kanan’s stomach while Kanan tried to push her off. Dia was shouting at them to stop, but it was proving to be quite ineffective.

“Yeah! Now pull her hair!” You shouted from the door. Riko smacked her on the arm and she frowned. “Ouch, Riko!”

“Pull yourself together You!” Riko said. “We gotta stop this fight!”

“It doesn’t look like much of a fight to me,” Yoshiko deadpanned, wondering how it had turned into such a scene. All that was happening was that Mari was latched onto Kanan and wouldn’t get off.

“Eek! My sister can’t even stop it, what are we going to do?!” Ruby cried like it was the end of the world.

Yoshiko sighed. “Ruby, it’s not that big of a dea-Zuramaru?”

Hanamaru was holding onto Ruby’s hand, looking equally concerned.

“Even the teacher can’t stop it!”

“You guys, it’s not that big of a deal!” Yoshiko said in annoyance.

“Chika, do something! And stop taking pictures!” Riko said.

Chika sighed and turned off her cellphone.

“Such a killjoy,” she muttered before she walked into the room, attracting the attention of the other third years. “Guys, listen up!”

Kanan, Mari and Dia’s eyes flickered over to see Chika standing there, who, for some reason, had taken a fighting positon.

“How about all three of you fight me at once?!” Chika declared, and you could hear Riko slap herself on the forehead.

“Oh my god,” Riko muttered.

You leapt in to the room, standing on one foot and kicking her other one out, using her arms to keep herself balanced.

“Me too!”

Another smack. “Please kill me,” Riko said.

Dia looked appalled. “What? N-No!”

“Oh yeah, I guess You can’t fight Dia,” Chika said. You cocked a brow.

“Why not?” she asked.

“We can’t have lovers fight each other,” Chika said, before looking impressed with herself. “It’d be a real lovers’ quarrel!”

“We aren’t lovers!” Dia and You shouted at the same time, their gazes meeting for a moment before they both immediately looked away and busied themselves with something else in the classroom.

“Aha!” Chika said. “Now that you two are out of the mix, I can take Mari and Kanan on by myself!”

Mari and Kanan, on the other hand, were completely oblivious to everything happening around them as they continued to bicker with each other.

Chika blinked.

“Um, did they not hear me?” Chika cleared her throat and tried again. “I said, now that you two are out of the mix, I can take Mari and Kanan on by myself!”

Once again there was no reaction. Chika couldn’t believe this was happening.

“What disrespect,” Chika muttered darkly under her breath. “Can you believe this You?”

You didn’t respond, too busy wrapped up in her own thoughts, and Chika only felt herself get angrier.

“Can you believe this, Riko?” Chika shouted, turning to face the redhead, who was shaking her head.

“I really can’t,” she said weakly.

Chika turned sharply towards the crowd, pointing at the nearest third year who gulped.

“Can you believe this, unnamed third-year?!”

Before she could even speak, Chika turned away to face Kanan and Mari.

“ENOUGH!”

Her piercing scream reverberated through the walls of Uranohoshi, silencing everyone, even students in different classrooms, entirely. Kanan and Mari finally stopped pushing and shoving and both looked over to Chika finally acknowledging her presence.

“First of all, you argue and disturb the serenity of Uranohoshi. And then you find it okay to ignore me? To my face?!” Chika shook her head slowly. “This sort of thing, this disrespect, cannot go unfettered.”

“Unfettered?” someone mumbled in the crowd.

“You two,” Chika said, pointing at them. “And Dia too, I guess. Meet me in the clubroom after school if you know what’s good for you!”

Kanan blinked. “Are you threatening us?”

Chika smacked her lips. “If the shoe fits.”

“What?” Kanan said, scrunching up her nose in confusion.

Mari smiled. “Sure, Chika.”

Kanan couldn’t help the manifesting irritation inside of her as she sat in the clubroom, seated at the desk next to Dia who didn’t dare to even glance her way. If anyone could recognize Kanan’s annoyance, it would be Dia after all.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” Chika said, a bible that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere in her hands.

Kanan stared at her blankly. She was used to these sorts of antics but Chika, but she really wasn’t in the mood.

“Put the bible down,” Kanan said, her voice steel.

“’Kay!” Chika squeaked and dropped the book. “I guess I’ll need to take a different approach here.”

“Kanan, we just want to know why you chose to stop being a School Idol,” You said once she realized Chika wasn’t going to be able to get to her first line of questioning.

“I don’t understand why you people care,” Kanan said. “It doesn’t affect you guys.”

“Yes it does!” Chika said. “This drama the three of you have is rippling through the entire school. How can we put our trust into this student body when our student council president and our new school director are feuding?” Chika shook her head solemnly. “The foundation of this school is built upon pillars of salt and sand.”

“Did you just quote Coldplay?” Yoshiko said.

“We just want the truth, Kanan!” Mari declared.

“And the truth is exactly what I’m giving you,” Kanan said. “I just didn’t want to be a School Idol anymore after Tokyo.”

“Really? ‘Cause Dia told us you couldn’t sing,” Chika pointed out.

Kanan’s eyes flicked over to Dia, who looked positively alarmed for a moment before she looked sharply away from Kanan.

“Dia…” Kanan growled under her breath.

“So we just want to know the real reason why you couldn’t sing,” Chika said. “Give the people what they want!”

Kanan stared straight down at the table, not bothering to give Chika a response.

“Please?” Chika said after a couple of moments, but still she was met with nothing but silence. “Fine, playing cold chicken I guess.”

“Turkey,” Riko supplied.

Chika, who looked surprisingly unfazed about Kanan’s behavior for a couple seconds, grabbed her head and gritted her teeth in a show of complete annoyance.

“Holy mackerel, this girl is driving me crazy!” Chika said.

“Join the club, pollo,” Mari said. “Kanan, you’re annoying the crap out of everyone here!”

Kanan shrugged. “So be it.”

“Ugh, I need a Tylenol,” Mari groaned.

“I just don’t understand why she’s so reluctant to be a School Idol again,” Ruby said, not realizing that she was speaking her thoughts aloud.

“I know, zura! Her dancing was so elegant,” Hanamaru chirped in agreement.

Unbeknownst to them, Kanan had picked up on the entire conversation, and was now shooting them daggers. Her cheeks were firing a hot red from embarrassment; she hadn’t realized that people had been watching her.

“Cease your glaring at Zuramaru, or I will unload a dangerous curs-“

“Not now Yoshiko,” Hanamaru said, slapping a hand onto Yoshiko’s mouth.

“Aww, she’s blushing,” Mari said, leaning over to pinch Kanan on the cheek. “Preziosa! Little Kanan is embarrassed~”

Everyone in the clubroom started giggling in lighthearted amusement, but the resentment in Kanan’s gut only continued to grow to the point that she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Enough.”

Kanan rose out of her seat, her cold voice immediately silencing all of the laughter in the room.

“I’m done with this interrogation. I quit being a School Idol, and that’s the end of the story.” They all watched in silence as Kanan headed towards the door, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “Now leave me alone. And I mean it this time.”

The door closed behind her, and everyone in the room visibly deflated at Kanan’s words.

“That girl is impossible,” Mari said.

But Chika wasn’t satisfied. “She’s totally lying. There’s gotta be something we’re missing.”

As she wondered to herself what they could possibly be missing, Chika felt her gaze subconsciously drift over Dia, who was fidgeting in her seat.

“Suspicious!” Chika said, jutting out a finger at Dia.

“Who, me?” Dia said, looking unconvincingly confused before she sprung out of her chair and started shrieking.

“Is this something that runs in your family?” Yoshiko asked Ruby, who sighed.

“Kind of,” she admitted.

“You, get her!” Chika ordered as Dia headed for the door.

“Me?” You said. “Why not Yoshiko?”

“Just touch her!” Chika yelled.

You, in the heat of the moment, complied with Chika’s orders. She darted around the table and grabbed onto Dia’s hand.

Dia immediately froze where she stood. You swallowed as she watched Dia’s head slowly rotate until she was peering over her shoulder at her and You’s connected hands.

“Y-You?” Dia said. You was suddenly deathly afraid that Dia was going to pop her in the face, but instead a searing blush rose into the student council president’s cheeks.

You, noticing Dia’s blush, started flushing herself.

“Dia?” You said.

That was when Dia fainted.

“Sis!” Ruby squealed as she darted over to her sister. Mari was keeled over in laughter, happily surprised by the sudden turn of events, and Chika smiled smugly to herself.

“I knew that would work!” the orange haired girl said.

“I have to say, I’m impressed.” Riko admitted.

“I-I have no idea why I fainted like that,” Dia said, clearly embarrassed as she sat on a mat in her living room. All of the members of Aqours, and Mari, were gathered around her. Dia didn’t dare to spare a glance in You’s direction. “Probably low blood sugar.”

“Right,” Chika drawled.

“Now, are you going to tell us what really happened?” Mari asked.

Ruby was standing next to Chika, looking at her sister with a concerned expression.

“Dia, you don’t have to share if you don’t want to,” Ruby said kindly.

Chika’s eyes bulged. “Yes she does!”

Riko grabbed Chika’s arm and pulled her away from Ruby.

“Chika, lay off!”

Chika, as if realizing her franticness, blinked herself back into focus before she chuckled awkwardly.

“Sorry, I think this whole mystery-solving thing is getting the better of me,” Chika admitted.

“You don’t say,” Yoshiko said, You humming in agreement.

“Okay, I’ll disclose the whole truth,” Dia said finally. “But you might not like it.”

“I’ve waited years for this,” Mari said. “I’ll take any truth you give me.”

Dia sighed.

“I know.”

_ “Wait, you want to stop being a School Idol?” Dia said to Kanan, feeling completely blindsided by her childhood best friend. It was just the two of them in the clubroom. Mari had been sick that day, and, although Dia was certainly worried about Mari, it was nice to just have some time with Kanan. _

_This wasn’t what she had signed up for._

_“I do,” Kanan said._

_“W-Why?” Dia asked. “I thought you were having fun.”_

_“I am Dia. Well, I was,” Kanan said, chewing her lower lip. “But things changed.”_

_“What changed? Is this because of Tokyo? Because it was just one concert. You don’t have to worry about t-“_

_“That’s not it, Dia!” Kanan said, cutting into Dia’s words. Dia was rendered speechless; it wasn’t often that Kanan raised her voice, and it was even less often that Dia was on the receiving end of it._

_“Well, then what is it?” Dia shot back, getting riled up by the harshness of Kanan’s words._

_Kanan winced. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have raised my voice like that.”_

_And just like that, the anger that Dia had felt so strongly withered away._

_“No, it’s alright. I shouldn’t have either,” Dia said._

_“Dia, you know why I didn’t perform at Tokyo, right?” Kanan asked._

_Dia nodded. “It was about Mari’s ankle, correct?”_

_“Yeah, I didn’t want her to tweak it any further. It really wasn’t worth it. But after that, I got to thinking. You know how Mari always has those opportunities to study abroad, like in America or Europe?”_

_“Yeah, of course,” Dia said. Mari had turned down those opportunities all the time. The blonde had never really wanted to go, despite the insistence of her parents. Uranohoshi was her home after all._

_“Don’t you think it’s kind of wrong that she keeps turning them down?” Kanan asked. “I mean, studying so far away, going to amazing schools…As long as we’re in the School Idol club with her, we’re denying her the opportunity to do those things.”_

_“I guess so,” Dia agreed. “But I never felt like Mari wanted to do any of those things.”_

_“But only because she’s never tried,” Kanan said. “And we’re the ones standing in her way. Don’t you see that, Dia?”_

_Dia swallowed. Maybe Kanan was right. As long as the School Idol club was alive, Mari would never be able to live to her full potential. There were a boatload of opportunities waiting for her in a different country. Staying in a small town wasn’t going to get her anywhere._

_‘But what about me?’ Dia wanted to say. She loved being a School Idol. It brought her, Kanan and Mari closer than they had ever been before. She didn’t want to let go of her dream just yet._

_But, when she looked in Kanan’s eyes, she knew that she really had no choice._

_“You’re right.”_

_ _

“N-No way,” Mari said, stunned. “That can’t really be the reason you abolished the club.”

Dia hummed. “That’s it. Kanan felt like we were robbing you from a great future.”

“That’s not up to Kanan!” Mari yelled, and the first and second years suddenly felt very small and like they didn’t belong.

“Maybe not, but she did what she thought was right,” Dia said.

“What she thought was right?” Mari repeated, her hands tightening into fists. “How could she possibly know what was right for me? I wanted to stay here, and be a School Idol!”

“I know that you wanted to stay here,” Dia said, staying calm. “But come on, really think about it. Did you have a better chance of getting the best education and future here, in this small town with hardly any people and one school that was eventually going to close in a year or two, or would you have a better chance in an amazing city, at a big name school?”

“But I didn’t want to go to a big name school, in a city so far away!” Mari yelled. “I wanted to stay with you guys.”

“It’s not just about what you want, Mari!” Dia said sharply, and Mari flinched. “People would kill for the opportunities being handed to you. Even if you were reluctant to do them, Kanan knew it was wrong for us to stand in your way.”

“I get that-“

“No, you don’t get it! Can’t you see? Kanan has always wanted nothing but the best for you,” Dia said, her heart pumping in her ears as she finally got off what had always been on her chest. “She looked out for you when we were kids, and made sure that you had friends and that you fit into school. She always made sure you kept up with school, but when you were sad she always made it her top priority to make sure you were happy. And then when she finally realized that she was the one standing in the way of your future, she took the blame for the abandoning of the School Idol club so that you would have no choice but to go. Your past, present, and future mattered to her more than anything else in her life.”

Dia’s words were the trigger that broke the dam concealing Mari’s emotions.

The blonde sprinted out of the Kurosawa household, not bothering to say anything else while the others watched her go.

The room was dead silent for several moments as Dia caught her breath. Nobody knew what to do, or how to react, and Dia wished she could just sink into a hole in the ground and disappear from the prying eyes around her.

“H-Hey,” a voice said gently.

Dia looked to her right through her blurred gaze to see that You was kneeling down beside her, a comforting smile on her face.

“Do you want a hug?” You asked.

Dia simply nodded, and when she fell into the comfort of You’s arms, she felt nothing but relief from a burden being lifted off of her.

_ “Hey, Mari, I want you to know something.” _

_Mari looked over at Kanan, noticing how her blue hair blew beautifully in the strong winds. The boat was cruising on the ocean waters, and even though Mari knew she would never love the ocean quite as much as Kanan, it was lovely._

_“What is it? You got a secret to spill?” Mari asked._

_Kanan rolled her eyes. “You’re such a gossip.”_

_“At least I’m an honest one!” Mari said with a wink._

_“Anyways, it’s not a secret,” Kanan said, looking down at her hands. “I just wanted to say that, even if we are someday thousands upon thousands of feet apart, the truth is that you will always be on my mind. I will never forget about you for as long as I live.”_

_Mari was taken aback by the truthfulness in Kanan’s words, to the point where she couldn’t even dismiss it by making a joke._

_“Y-You really mean that?” Mari asked._

_That was when she glanced up at Mari, wearing the typical amused crinkle in her eyes that Mari treasured so dearly._

_“Of course I do, Mari.”_

_ _

When Kanan had received the message from Mari saying that she wanted to meet at the school, she had initially decided that she wasn’t going to go. It was pouring outside, and she had already decided that she had to stay away from Mari.

But then, after mulling over it for another minute, she decided she couldn’t just ignore the blonde and headed over.

_She’s probably just going to tear into me, _Kanan thought, and she decided that might be a good thing. If Mari were able to get all of her anger against Kanan out, she might decide that she was done trying to pursue Kanan. That way she might leave Uranohoshi and return to studying abroad.

That made Kanan feel conflicted. Of course she didn’t want Mari to leave. Mari was like the sun to her; despite her being gone for two years, Kanan still felt just as connected to her as ever. She just wished the feelings would wither away and die.

But right when Mari had walked back into her life, the feelings she had pushed deep under the waters of her heart had risen back to the surface.

Kanan was surprised when she found herself standing in front of Uranohoshi. She was so lost in thought that she was on auto-pilot all the way there.

She ambled to the clubroom, reluctant on whether or not she wanted to have this conversation or not. She still had every opportunity to turn away, but she couldn’t help but desire to be around Mari. Even if it was one last time.

She stepped into the clubroom and was surprised to find that Mari was thoroughly drenched from head to toe. She was still in her school uniform, so she must have not ever gone home.

“M-Mari?” Kanan said. The blonde looked like a porcelain doll that had been played with too roughly. Her clothing was ragged and she was hunched over sadly. It was an appearance that didn’t suit her.

“So you came,” Mari said.

Mari didn’t move, so Kanan moved closer to her, but not too close. She waited patiently for Mari to reveal why she had called Kanan there. Clearly she wasn’t in the best mindset.

“I talked to Dia,” Mari eventually began. “She told me why you quit the School Idol club.”

_Of course she did, _Kanan thought to herself. It was impressive that she was able to keep it for a secret for so long, after all.

“You’re an idiot, Kanan,” Mari spat, twirling around to face Kanan. The pure rage in Mari’s eyes didn’t necessarily catch Kanan off guard, as she had set herself up for this, but it did put her on edge.

Kanan braced herself for an onslaught.

“Don’t you see?” Mari said. “I care about you…Just like how you care about me.”

Kanan blinked. That wasn’t what she had expected.

“Studying abroad? How could I ever be interested in something like that? My life at Uranohoshi was perfect. As long as you and Dia were by my side, I would never regret missing out on some ‘further education.’ It never mattered to me,” Mari said. “And it shouldn’t have mattered so much to you!”

“M-Mari,” Kanan said, taking a step closer towards the blonde.

Then, out the blue, Mari lunged forwards and raised her hand, and Kanan couldn’t react fast enough for the incoming blow.

Mari slapped her right across the cheek. It wasn’t the toughest hit that Kanan had sustained, but it was enough to sting.

The worst part about it all, though, was easily the shock.

“I love you, Kanan!” Mari said. “Don’t take something like that lightly!”

“Y-You love me?” Kanan stuttered out, her hand flying to her cheek to touch it for a few moments before she dropped it and glared at Mari. “If you really do feel that way, then why didn’t you just tell me? Stop making it about Love Live and just tell me the truth for once!”

Mari merely giggled, and it threw Kanan off so badly that her anger dissipated.

“You’re right,” Mari said, turning her cheek towards Kanan. “So, go ahead. I deserve it.”

_D-Deserve it? _Kanan thought.

Kanan raised her hand slowly, premature regret swelling in her stomach. She didn’t want to slap Mari. She didn’t want to do that at all.

“No,” Kanan said, dropping her hand. “I won’t do it.”

Mari’s eyes flickered back open, and she looked at Kanan in confusion.

“W-Why?” she asked. “I did it to you. It’s only fair.”

“I don’t care about what’s fair!” Kanan shouted, stunning Mari. “What I care about is you, Mari!”

“I-I know-“

“No, you don’t know,” Kanan said. “When I say I care about you, when I say that I love you, I mean it more than anything in the entire world!”

“I care about you too, Kanan!” Mari reminded the girl.

Kanan’s hand moved to her heart that was thumping so erratically against her rib cage that she thought it might just leap out of her chest.

“My heart…” Kanan said painfully. “Mari, I’m sorry about this.”

“A-about what?” Mari asked, completely lost.

That was when Kanan leaned in and kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> although i have already finished the book, i re-read the last couple chapters and felt some things ended rather abruptly. so i think i'll add on a couple things to tie it together nicely. it might take longer for the parts to come out, and on top of that im going to be extremely busy for the next week, but i'm confident that this will all be released quite soon 
> 
> hope everyone is enjoying :)


	10. My Best Friend

_ We’re both a little bit in love with Kanan~ _

Mari hadn’t been entirely incorrect with that statement. Some part of Dia would always love Kanan more than anything in her life, but as the two grew apart, she put her feelings to rest and moved on with her life.

And now with Mari and Kanan having since reconciled, some part of her hoped that the three of them could go back to the way that they were.

_“Hey, who are you?” Kanan asked as she peeked under the desk. Dia sat under there shuddering, a coloring book in her hand._

_“S-Sorry, is this your spot?” Dia stuttered out. Her shyness was so bad that she could hardly interact with any of her classmates, and often found herself retreating far away from them. This wasn’t any different. It was reading time and Dia did what she could to stay clear of everyone else._

_“No, it’s not,” Kanan said. “I was just wondering why you were sitting by yourself, is all.”_

_“M-Me?” Dia repeated. Kanan laughed childishly._

_“Yeah, you! I’m not talking to anyone else, am I?” Kanan asked with a toothy grin._

_“I…I just like being by myself,” Dia said, looking down at her book. She wished that the blue haired girl would just leave her alone and walk away._

_“I get that. I like being by myself too, sometimes. But not all the time,” Kanan said, squishing under the desk so she could sit next to Dia. Dia squealed at her sudden intruding but didn’t make any move to stop her. “So why don’t we spend this time together?”_

_“Um, o-okay,” Dia said._

_That moment changed Dia’s entire life._

Dia was standing on the edge of the dock, remaining still despite the chill in the air. Kanan had asked to meet her, and she tried to run possible scenarios through her mind.

“Dia!”

Dia turned away from the ocean waters and looked at Kanan. She froze for a moment when she saw the small girl from her childhood, but when she closed her eyes and opened them, that girl was gone and it was present day Kanan once again.

“Kanan,” Dia said. “You said you wanted to meet me here, right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Kanan nodded, sounding breathless. Now that Dia thought about it, Kanan’s cheeks looked red like she had been running. “I knew you would be here early, so I thought it’d be rude if I made you wait.”

Dia glimpsed down at her watch. Kanan was right; this was still five minutes before their scheduled time.

“That was considerate of you,” Dia said, blushing faintly.

“Well, I thought I owed you one, considering I haven’t been a very good friend lately,” Kanan said. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and absentmindedly made kicking motions into the dock.

Dia sighed. “Don’t tell me that Mari’s been in your ear.”

“She has, but I didn’t need her telling me to already know that it was true,” Kanan said.

“Kanan, you have had a lot on your plate-“

“No, Dia. I don’t want you to say that. I want you to tell me the truth,” Kanan said, and Dia’s breath hitched. “Don’t tell me what I want to hear. Tell me how you really feel.”

_How I really feel? _Dia thought as she looked down at her coiled fist. She didn’t want to talk about how she felt. Ever. Kanan was her dearest friend, but even she would never be allowed to see the pearl under the shell.

“I am-“

“No you aren’t, Dia!” Kanan said, her voice jumping an octave. “I want you to get mad at me. Yell! Scream! Get if off your chest!”

And then she snapped.

“You want me to scream?” Dia asked shakily, anger woven into her words. “Fine, if you want it so bad, I’ll give it to you! Every choice you’ve made in the past couple years has been for Mari. You have never once considered my feelings at all!”

Exhilaration coursed through Dia’s veins, and for the first time in her life she felt her layers of lies and fakeness peel slowly as she pushed the knife deeper and deeper into Kanan’s heart.

“Did you ever care that I wanted to be a School Idol? Never! Never once did you ask me if I was okay. Instead, once Mari was gone you just disappeared from my life. So not only did you take one of my best friends, but you took both of them down with you!” Dia was shaking at this point, tears spilling down her cheeks. Her voice was thick with emotion as she continued. “What about me? We were best friends, you said you’d be by my side forever. But once Mari came you tossed me to the side like I was a doll you were done playing with. Well I’m sick of it. The truth is that you never cared about me at all.”

Dia breathed heavily after her rant, and she didn’t dare look at Kanan. The blue haired girl was probably horrified. She must have been looking at Dia like she was a monster.

But, when Dia looked up, she saw that Kanan was smiling. Tears were trickling down her cheeks and plummeting to the docks below.

“Jeez, it always took so much prodding to get you to spill what was on your mind,” Kanan said through the tears. If Dia didn’t know any better, it was like she wasn’t crying at all. “You know what, Dia? You were my first friend.”

Dia sniffed. “P-Pardon?” That couldn’t have been true. By the time the two had met in kindergarten, Kanan had been friends with most of the class.

“I got along well with kids at school, but since I lived so far away, I never got invited to go anywhere or hang out with anyone,” Kanan said wistfully. “But you were willing to give me the time of day. When I wanted to go out and have fun, you would join me, even if you were scared. Heck, you even snuck with me into the Ohara’s property, and you were terrified!”

Dia couldn’t help but let slip an imperceptible giggle at the memory. She had been terrified. But Kanan was always so calm and cool that she always felt like she didn’t have to worry.

“You really made me feel like I belonged. Like I mattered to someone,” Kanan continued. “And for that, I can’t thank you enough.”

_No way. You’re the one who made me feel like that_, Dia wanted to argue, but Kanan kept carrying on like a steamroller.

“I’ll admit it. My feelings for Mari clouded my judgement,” Kanan said, and Dia wasn’t surprised. She knew that Kanan cared for Mari in a way that went beyond friendship. Kanan didn’t care to elaborate on the point, so she guessed that Kanan thought she already knew. “But that doesn’t mean I cared about you any less. Even if it might have seemed that way.

“I always thought that you were predictable, that I could always gauge your feelings. But the truth is that I was wrong. I didn’t really understand how you were feeling, not at all. I took your feelings for granted because I thought I was doing something right. Turns out I had gone about it all wrong.” Kanan exhaled slowly, collecting herself.

“Dia, I might have feelings for Mari, but the truth is that you will always be my best friend. I care about you, a lot more than you might ever know. And I know I’ve done a really horrible job at showing it, and I’d totally understand if you were done with me. But the truth is that I love you, Dia. I love you a lot,” Kanan’s voice caught on the last comment, and she looked out at the ocean.

Dia and Kanan’s friendship would always be turbulent, because the two were so awful at sharing their feelings. Mari did a better job at drawing those types of things out of them, but when it came to Dia and Kanan, the two wanted so desperately to pretend like they were alright, like everything was okay, to the point that they truly started to believe it themselves.

_“Hey, why are you crying Dia?” Kanan asked, kneeling down next to her best friend._

_“T-They were picking on me again,” Dia said through sniffles. The older children seemed to have a good time messing with the young girl since she never went to the teacher._

_“They were?” Kanan asked, and when Dia nodded, rage filled the young girl’s eyes. Kanan stood up, her hands balled into fists. “Don’t worry, I’ll make them apologize.”_

_Dia couldn’t even hear her. She had already started sobbing into her hands. She didn’t notice when Kanan walked away._

_“Dia, Kanan’s in a fight!”_

_Dia immediately looked up to see a couple of her classmates hovering over her, each of them looking equally concerned._

_“A f-fight?”_

_“Yeah, she’s taking on some of those second graders! It’s crazy,” a young boy with a sharp overbite said._

_“She is?” Dia said, shooting up immediately. “W-Where is she?” _

_“On the back field,” a girl said._

_Dia immediately darted over, sprinting as fast her little legs could take her._

_When she saw the scene on the field, she gasped. Kanan was trying to take on three second graders at once, and despite them only being a year older, they were quite a bit bigger. Kanan was holding her own alright, but they certainly had the upper hand, and Kanan was looking pretty banged up._

_“Get a teacher,” Dia yelled to a nearby teacher in a voice that didn’t suit her at all. The kid immediately shot into action, the harsh tone of authority kicking in and making the kid listen._

_Dia ran over to the middle of the field. Kanan had just taken a pretty hard shove, and she had toppled over onto the ground. Her clothes were stained green from the grass, and there was dirt and grime all over her face._

_“Not so brave now, are you?” one of the older kids snarled. She was rocking a pretty good bruise on her cheek, though._

_“W-Whatever,” Kanan muttered, pushing herself up off the ground slowly. Dia quickly approached her, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. Kanan looked dazed. “D-Dia? What are you doing here?”_

_“Making sure you don’t get hurt!” Dia said, dusting some off the dirt off of her friend’s cheeks. “What you doing, Kanan? This isn’t worth it!”_

_“You’re little friend is right,” a second grader chimed in. “You should have never tried taking us on.”_

_Dia could feel Kanan rumbling with anger as she leaned against Dia for support._

_“Kanan, they aren’t worth it,” Dia whispered into Kanan’s ear, trying to calm her down._

_“Hey, isn’t that the little punk from earlier?” one of them said, pointing to Dia, who felt her heart stop._

_“Oh yeah…That explains why that little pint came screeching at us like she did.”_

_“The pipsqueak can’t fight her own battles, I guess?”_

_“Oh my god, what a loser!”_

_They all started laughing like it was the funniest joke they ever heard, and Dia could see that Kanan was positively seething._

_“Kanan, it’s alright,” Dia said._

_“It’s not alright! Let me go and I’ll beat the crap out of them,” Kanan said, but Dia could tell that she had little to no energy left._

_“Kanan, I’m just happy you fought for me at all,” Dia said, grabbing her friend’s hand._

_Kanan looked up and was shocked to find the genuine smile on her friend’s face. Her cheeks were free of tear stains, and her eyes were clear. She looked strong. She looked powerful._

_“D-Dia?”_

_“Come on, let’s not waste our time with these guys,” Dia said, moving to walk away, Kanan leaning against her._

_“What? You’re going to run away now?” one of them called. “Gonna go cry to mommy?”_

_“We’re actually taking a tactical retreat,” Dia whispered to Kanan. She could tell the blue-haired girl’s blood was boiling. “This is only part of my plan.”_

_“Your plan?”_

_“Girls, are you alright?”_

_Dia and Kanan looked up to see their teacher standing over them looking positively livid._

_“W-We’re okay,” Dia said._

_“You don’t have to lie, Dia,” the teacher said, kneeling down next to them. “I heard there was fight. Dia, you take Kanan to the nurse’s room, okay? I’ll deal with those bullies.”_

_“Thanks, miss,” Kanan said._

_“Of course. Way to be brave,” the teacher rubbed each one of their heads before walking past them to deal with the unsuspecting second graders._

_“No way. You planned that, Dia?” Kanan asked, genuinely impressed._

_Dia smiled as she lugged Kanan towards the school._

_“Yep,” she chirped. “Kanan, I might not always be able to fight for you, physically I mean, but I’ll always be able to support you in another away, okay?”_

_Kanan blinked, taken aback by the courage that was shining on Dia’s face. She had never seen her look like this before. It was inspiring._

_“T-Thanks, Dia.”_

_“You want a hug, Kanan? That looked pretty scary,” Dia said._

_Kanan shook her head. “No, I’m fine. It wasn’t scary at all.”_

_And then her lower lip started trembling, and Dia could see right through her act._

_“It’s okay, Kanan,” Dia said, rubbing her friend’s back. “I still think you’re the toughest person I’ve ever met in my life! Tougher than my dad.”_

_Kanan’s eyes flickered over to meet Dia, and that was when the dam broke free, and she sobbed in her friend’s arms._

“Kanan,” Dia said, breaking the silence that had swallowed the atmosphere.

Kanan looked over, and she was surprised to find that Dia had her arms out, a smile on her face as tears continued to drift down her cheeks.

“Hug me.”

The two girls cried for a good time after that, holding each other tightly like once they let go the other would disappear forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consider this more of a chapter 9.5 than a chapter 10, considering it breaks canon completely. just giving the kanadia resolution i always wanted. 
> 
> sorry for taking so long to update, i've been really swamped. hope the weeks going well for everyone!


	11. We've Got Stewshine

“It’s summer!” 

Chika’s cheer was unleashed into the air as Aqours exited the school building for the last time in a while. It was finally summer vacation, which meant beach bods, good food, and nothing but glorious sunshine.

Well, not all of those things were applicable to Chika, but she didn’t really care.

“It’s time to celebrate!” You cheered.

“We can’t get distracted!” Dia declared, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Summer is the season of Love Live, after all. This is go time.”

“Go time? I feel like every day is go time around here,” Yoshiko mumbled. “I was some relaxation.”

Dia looked positively offended by this, but Kanan butt in before she could lash out at Yoshiko.

“There will be time for relaxing, but Dia’s right. We gotta kick it into high gear if we really wanna compete at Love Live,” Kanan said.

“I can’t believe Love Live is so close now,” Riko said. “It always felt so distant.”

“I’m excited, zura!” Hanamaru said. “I’ve never been to such a big, fancy event.”

“Me too!” Ruby squealed in delight. “I’ve read about Love Live in all of my magazines, but actually being there is such an experience. Especially since we’ll be performing!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourselves!” Dia said sharply, cutting right into Hanamaru and Ruby’s fantasies. “We still have qualifiers. Which is why I grabbed this!”

Dia held up a binder full of papers that seemed to have materialized out of thin air. You cocked a brow.

“What is that, exactly?” You asked.

“I’m glad you asked, Watanabe,” Dia said. “You won’t believe the trouble I went through getting my hands on this.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” You muttered under her breath.

“Dia, you can stop holding in the air now, dear,” Mari said.

Dia dropped her arm. “R-Right. I got distracted. Anyways, it’s μ's training schedule from their summer training camp!”

“T-Training camp?” Yoshiko said. “I don’t think a high-level demon, such as moi, requires such a thing.”

“You probably do, zura,” Hanamaru said.

“Speak for yourself, Zuramaru!”

“No way, μ's used this?” Chika said in amazement, looking at the binder in Dia’s hand like it was a winning lottery ticket.

Dia chuckled smugly. “That’s right, I bought it online.”

“For how much?” You smirked.

“T-That’s irrelevant, Watanabe!” Dia snapped. “Anyways, I thought it would be really helpful to get us in the best state for Love Live.”

“Wow, Dia. You’re the best!” Chika said in delight, scenarios of them winning Love Live running through her head.

“Yeah, thanks so much, Dia,” Riko agreed.

“You really came in clutch, prez,” You said with a thumbs up.

“Ruby, your sister is so cool!” Hanamaru chirped.

Ruby hummed in agreement. “I know, right?”

Dia’s cheeks started burning from the onslaught of compliments, and she clutched the binder tightly against her chest and started laughing giddily.

“They like me, they really like me,” Dia said, eyes half-glazed euphorically.

“Oh god, that’s going straight to her head,” Kanan said.

Mari giggled. “Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

“You guys can all stay over at my house while we do the training, if you all want,” Chika suggested.

“Is your mom okay with that?” Riko asked skeptically.

“Probably.”

“That would make things convenient,” Kanan said. “Chika and I were asked to help with a snack bar on the beach, though, so we’d have to balance that too.”

“A snack bar?” Yoshiko said, looking suddenly intrigued. “I would be willing to donate my time to a lowly service like that.”

Kanan’s brow creased. “I can’t tell if you just insulted me or yourself.”

“That sounds like fun!” Ruby chirped.

“Alright! Then Operation: Aqours Training Camp is a go!” Chika cheered.

“Oh god,” Riko mumbled when her eyes fell on the competing snack bar across the beach. They had a huge line, but despite that they were serving quality food at a rapid speed.

“This is a total L,” Yoshiko muttered.

“Hey, we can compete with those guys!” You said, sending dirty glares to the workers at the other snack bar, who couldn’t even see her. “Come on, Dia! Take charge!”

“M-Me?” Dia asked.

You crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, yeah. You are the prez. This sort of thing is right up your alley.”

“I’m not too knowledgeable about snack bars, though,” Dia admitted.

“Just pretend that you are~” Mari suggested.

“That’s a horrible idea!”

“Why?” You said, shrugging. “If none of us know what we’re doing, we’re better off acting like we do then just throwing in the towel.” You shot Dia a grin. “Come on prez, lead the way! If anyone here can do it, it’s you.”

Dia, looking momentarily stunned by You’s encouragement, turned away and sighed.

“F-Fine, I’ll do it. But not because you asked me too, Watanabe!” Dia said, scratching the mole on her chin.

Kanan and Mari, noticing this, shared a snicker.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” You said, not really caring.

Dia immediately jumped into leadership mode. Since Yoshiko and Mari were so desperate to work in the kitchen, Dia allowed them to make the food. But since she didn’t trust that they wouldn’t make weird concoctions, Dia threw You in there as well.

Kanan, Chika and Riko were on advertisement duty while Hanamaru and Ruby served the food to people. This worked out well as Hanamaru and Ruby were too shy to actually advertise, but serving food to individual people wasn’t too big of a hurdle for them.

“Come get five star quality, Gordan Ramsey inspired cuisine!” Chika shouted into her megaphone.

“Chika, you can’t lie!” Riko whispered harshly.

“It’s not a lie. I’m just construing the truth,” Chika countered.

“I can’t believe that ‘construing’ is in your vocabulary,” Kanan said in disbelief.

Chika grinned. “Thanks!” She had completely missed the tone of Kanan’s voice.

The snack bar hadn’t been a complete failure. Everything that You made sold in seconds, but the ‘stewshine’ and the ‘tears of a fallen angel’ takoyaki hadn’t done quite as well.

_Oh whatever, _Dia thought as she overlooked the snack bar. It wasn’t like they were doing horrible, and they were actually gathering a good flock of customers.

After shutting down the snack bar for the day, Aqours commenced their training. Hardly anybody had been eager to do it after running the snack bar, but since Dia ran things with an iron-fist they really had no choice.

“Ugh, today was total balls,” Yoshiko said as she slumped onto her futon. After the long day they had all gathered in Chika’s living room, equally exhausted.

“For once I agree with you, zura,” Hanamaru said, curling up next to Yoshiko. The fallen angel began absentmindedly playing with the shorter girl’s hair.

“What do you mean, for once?” Yoshiko asked, but there was no bite in her words.

“I can’t remember the last time I had a sleepover this big!” Chika said in delight as she snacked on oranges.

“I don’t think I ever have,” Riko said with a smile. “This is pretty nice.”

“I’ll have to thank your mom again for hosting us all. That was really kind of her,” Kanan said as she laid out her own futon.

“Hey, thank me too! I came up with the idea,” Chika said.

Kanan rolled her eyes. “I’m not thanking you now, that’s for sure.”

“Kanan,” Chika pouted.

“This stuff isn’t actually half-bad,” Dia said as she dug into Yoshiko’s takoyaki.

“Try some stewshine too, Dia~” Mari said eagerly as she devoured another bowl of her own creation.

“M-Maybe later,” Dia said, her eyes starting over to the stew unsurely.

“Ruby, help me out here!” You said as she rapidly pressed the buttons on her controller.

Ruby was just as invested in the game, her tongue sticking out in a face of concentration as she took down another monster.

“Coming!” she called.

“I’m going to head over to the inn really quick to grab some more oranges!” Chika said after the bowl of oranges had diminished.

“Okay, but this time don’t eat them all,” Riko chastised.

“I didn’t eat them all! Only most of them.”

Chika skipped away, walking into the inn intent on grabbing what she wanted. What she hadn’t expected was too stumble into a conversation between Riko’s mother and her own.

“Yeah, there’s a piano competition…”

“On the same day? That’s too bad.”

That was all Chika needed to hear.

Yoshiko’s eyes flickered open, and in her half-aware funk she tried to figure out what had awoken her. It was still dark, so there was no way she had woken up naturally.

She peered around in the darkness and saw two figures move to go outside. It wasn’t hard to piece together that it was Chika and Riko due to their bright hair colors.

_What could they possibly be talking about? _Yoshiko thought to herself, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

“Y-Yoshiko?” a voice said, and Yoshiko looked over to see Hanamaru rising out of her own futon, yawning.

“Oh, sorry Zuramaru, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Yoshiko said.

Hanamaru shook her head. “It’s okay. I don’t think it was you, anyways,” Hanamaru said, her eyes flickering towards the door. “Was that Chika and Riko?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Yoshiko said. “I wonder what they’re doing. Probably something dastardly.”

“I doubt it,” Hanamaru said.

“You never know,” Yoshiko said, motioning over to Kanan and Mari who were sleeping in the same futon. “Just look at those two.”

“What do you mean, zura?” Hanamaru asked, confused.

“They’re sleeping in the same futon. What do you think I mean?”

“I thought Dia said that they always did that,” Hanamaru said.

Yoshiko rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so naïve, Zuramaru. They’re clearly J-A-Y for each other.”

“Jay?”

“Whoops, I meant G,” Yoshiko said. “But I’m fairly certain they’re together. And I totally think Riko and Chika are going to hook up too.”

Hanamaru yawned for a second time. “It’s bad to assume things like that, Yoshiko.”

“It’s not an assumption if it’s true!”

“You always read into things too much,” Hanamaru said.

“I do not!” Yoshiko replied starkly. “H-Hey, have you ever wondered what it’s like?” 

“Do elaborate,” Hanamaru said, resting her chin on her hands and giving Yoshiko her full attention. Yoshiko felt her heart skip a beat; even in her half-asleep state Hanamaru still looked stunning.

“I don’t know…To be in a relationship, I guess?” Yoshiko said.

Hanamaru shrugged. “I read a lot of books. But those tend to be unrealistic. Hmm, I guess I haven’t ever really put much thought into it.”

“Oh, really?” Yoshiko said, trying not to sound disappointed.

“Why? Do you think about it a lot?” Hanamaru asked curiously.

“N-No, of course not!” Yoshiko denied. “I was just wondering what you thought.”

Hanamaru giggled. “Whatever you say, Yoshiko.”

“Yohane!”

“Alright, we better go back to sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow,” Hanamaru said.

Yoshiko internally sighed. She could stay up all night talking to Hanamaru, but the brunette was right. If tomorrow was like today, she would be totally exhausted without any sleep.

“Okay. Good night my little demon,” Yoshiko mumbled as she slipped back under her futon.

She didn’t hear Hanamaru move, but she had assumed that the brunette had done the same. It wasn’t until about a minute later that she heard some rustling.

And then she felt somebody slide under her futon.

“Good night, Yoshiko,” Hanamaru whispered, giving the girl a peck on the cheek before she sidled in close to her.

Yoshiko knew that her voice would crack if she said anything in return, so she just pretended to be asleep.

“Oh my gosh, we’re selling like crazy!” Chika remarked as she watched the line in front of their snack bar continued to grow.

“I wonder what changed,” Riko said, looking at customers walk away with bowls of curry in their hands. “And since when were we selling curry?”

Kanan walked over from inside the snack bar.

“It’s You. She combined Mari’s stewshine and Yoshiko’s takoyaki into a curry, and it’s amazing,” Kanan explained, licking her lips in satisfaction.

Chika beamed. “Leave it to You to save the day!”

“Full steam ahead!” You said as she continued to prepare dishes in the kitchen. Mari and Yoshiko were rapidly chopping up their own ingredients, trying to keep pace with the orders that were flying in.

“Three more orders of curry!” Ruby squealed, handing the ticket to Dia who was trying desperately to organize things in the kitchen. It was great that they were selling so well, but it was starting to look like the cooks couldn’t keep up.

“Faster, you guys!” Dia yelled as she clipped up the order.

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Yoshiko cried. “I should have done a chant of quickness before we began.”

“Dio mio,” Mari muttered as she desperately attempted to wipe the sweat off her brow with a cloth. “I’m happy that we’re getting business, but I think we’re a tad bit understaffed.”

“We gotta make some changes,” Dia said, running outside. “Chika, Riko, Kanan! In the kitchen, now!”

Even with the seven of them in the kitchen it was still nearly impossible to keep up with the flurry of orders. But You seemed to go into turbo mode, and she was pumping out curry at a speed so incredible that the girls couldn’t even believe she was doing it.

“W-Wow,” Dia mumbled as she watched You serve up dishes and hand them to Chika and Riko, who passed them on to Hanamaru and Ruby.

“_Sexy, _am I right?” Mari whispered into Dia’s ears, who positively shrieked.

“Shut up, Mari!”

“Holy crap this is boring,” You mumbled as Dia continued to give the group a history of Love Live. The only ones who seemed genuinely entertained were Chika (surprisingly) and Ruby, while everyone else looked completely out of it.

Kanan shoved You in the side. “Hey, watch it shortsack.”

“I’m not a shortstack,” You said with a frown.

“You’ll be one once I’m finished with you.”

“Kanan, no violence,” Mari said, hypocritically slapping Kanan on the arm before she looked over at You. “You, at least pretend like you’re interested. Dia appreciates your opinion above all.”

You scoffed. “Yeah right. She could probably care less if I conked out right now.”

Mari rolled her eyes. “Jeez, is everyone in this room oblivious?”

“Hey, quit chattering!” Dia said, looking at everyone with a steel gaze.

“It wasn’t me!” Chika said. “I’m loving this!”

“Then was it you, Watanabe?” Dia said angrily.

You scratched the back of her neck. “Sorry, it was me. But I’ll shut up now. You have my full attention, captain!” As if to prove her point, You saluted to Dia.

“G-Good,” Dia said, her cheeks lightly dusted in pink as she carried on.

“Wow, I thought you were done for,” Mari said, snickering. “She really does have a soft spot for you.”

“Mari!”

“Mi dispiace!”

You was awoken from her deep sleep when she heard the faint sound of piano playing in the distance. At first she just thought it was her mind playing tricks on her, but after focusing in on the sound for several moments, she realized it wasn’t her imagination.

Curious, You rose from her futon. She immediately noticed that Riko and Chika were missing, and her mind clicked in realization.

_Guess I should see what they’re doing, _You thought to herself. She liked listening to Riko play the piano as much as everyone else.

There was a piano in one of the unused rooms in the house, so You followed the sound until she found herself standing outside a half closed door. Of course, right when she had gotten there, the piano stopped.

_Dammit, I missed it,_ You thought sadly. She was about to step in and say hi when she heard talking.

“That was amazing, Riko.”

Yep, that was Chika. And of course the pianist couldn’t be anyone other then Riko, unless someone on Aqours was hiding a secret talent.

“T-Thanks, Chika.”

You found herself eavesdropping on the conversation, having a weird sort of reluctance about going in. Like she was entering a conversation she shouldn’t be a part of.

Apparently there was a piano competition the day of the Love Live preliminaries, and Chika was trying to explain to Riko that it was okay if the redhead participated in it instead. That sounded so utterly un-Chika that You felt herself want to do a double take.

“When you first joined the School Idol club, you did so because you wanted to find your passion about playing the piano again,” Chika said. “I think it’s only fair that you follow through with that dream first. Then you can return to being a School Idol.”

“But the pre-lims are crucial to us making Love Live, Chika! I can’t miss it,” Riko said.

“Hey, have some faith in your club members,” Chika said, but You could hear the joking tone in her voice.

“I do,” Riko said. “I just want to be there with you guys.”

“You will be, after we qualify. Then we’ll all be together again,” Chika said. “But you shouldn’t deny yourself the chance to play in this competition. It’s what you’ve been working so hard for, after all.”

“Chika…” Riko trailed off.

The whole thing felt oddly intimate, and You wanted nothing more than to walk away. But something was compelling her to stay, no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

“Chika, why are you so good to me?” Riko eventually said.

Chika laughed. “Why? Because I care about you.”

That was when silence overtook the room, and confusion sprouted in You’s mind. Why had they abruptly stopped talking?

Adrenaline pumping through her veins, You slowly moved towards the crack in the door, peering through to catch a glimpse of what she was missing.

She had to catch herself from gasping.

It was Riko and Chika. Locking lips.


	12. Aye-Aye, my Friend

“I feel like half the things we do for this club are slave labor,” Yoshiko complained as she swept the mop across the ground of the pool. “Like, where’s the actual School Idol part? I signed up for the fame!”

“You know to achieve fame we actually have to win a big name competition, zura?” Hanamaru said as she scrubbed at a particularly dirty spot in the corner of the pool.

“And we are!” Chika said, doing a little dance with the mop that led to a poor cleaning job. “We’re going to win Love Live!”

“I can’t believe the student council has to clean the pool,” You said, standing next to Dia as they both wringed out their mops. “I mean, why can’t they get the detention kids to do it?”

“It’s what I signed up for,” Dia said, although You could tell that she wasn’t particularly happy about it either. “It’s too bad that all the other student council members are away on vacation.”

“I’m starting to think that these ‘other members’ are people you made up, because I never see them,” You deadpanned.

“They’re not made up!” Dia said. “They just all have busy lives.”

“Cleaning the pool isn’t so bad,” Kanan said. “At least it’s not that big.”

“Yeah, stop complaining you guys,” Mari said.

“You aren’t even doing anything!” Yoshiko cried.

Mari was splayed out on a chair, sun tanning. She had pitched in for the first ten minutes before she had decided that she needed a break.

“I’m not used to this kind of hard labor, okay?” Mari said, and that wasn’t a lie. She had butlers that did all of her work for her. The hardest thing she had done in a while was trying to get Kanan to be a School Idol again.

“Kanan, do something!” Yoshiko said.

Kanan shrugged. “Why? I don’t really mind. It wasn’t like she was all that helpful.” Her eyes flickered over to Mari who was wearing a bikini. “Plus, the view’s pretty good, don’t you think?”

Mari giggled into her hand while Yoshiko flushed a deep red.

“Oh, Kanan! So coy~”

“That’s disgusting!” Dia shrieked, pushing Kanan to the opposite corner of the pool from Mari was. “You, get to cleaning! And Mari you better get down here!”

“No,” Mari said.

“Hey, about the preliminaries,” Ruby said before Dia could bark at Mari.

“Yes, Ruby?” Dia said, her anger immediately disappearing once her sister started speaking.

“Well, don’t we need to adjust our formation, since Riko’s gone now?” Ruby pointed out. “She and Chika both had pretty big parts in the song.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about,” Chika said, tapping her chin in thought.

“I forgot about that too,” Kanan said with a frown. “I liked the little duet they had, though. Maybe we should have someone take her place?”

“Why not You?” Mari suggested from where she sat. “Those two have been friends for ages. They should have a natural chemistry?”

“Me?” You said in surprise.

“That’d be epic!” Chika cheered, darting over to You and grabbing onto her hand. “Name a more iconic duo!”

“I can name a few,” Yoshiko said. “Me and myself.”

“That’s not iconic at all,” Hanamaru said.

“Sure, I guess I’ll do it,” You said, forcing a smile.

“Yay!” Chika cheered.

“Wait, you want You to do it?” Dia said to Mari in surprise.

Mari shrugged. “Yeah, those two are besties. It shouldn’t be hard for them to transition into good dancing partners.”

“But the dance…It’s quite….I-Intimate,” Dia said the last part quietly.

“Oh, I see what’s going on here~” Mari said with a giggle. “Does Dia want to take Chika’s place in-“

“NO!” Dia barked. Everyone immediately turned to her, wondering why she had yelled so abruptly, and the raven haired girl paled. “I mean, uh, _no,_” she said softly. “That sounds perfect to me. Yes. Absolutely satisfactory. I’m totally chill with You and Chika. Doing an intimate dance. Mm-hmm.”

“Sweet!” Chika said with a thumbs up. “We better get practicing, then!”

“You guys will make a great team!” Ruby cheered.

You smiled, but her stomach felt acidic. She didn’t want to do the dance, not at all. 

There was no way she could replace Riko. Especially not in Chika’s eyes.

Things were somehow going worse than You had expected them to go.

She knew it would be hard to pick up Riko’s part in the dance, but the fact that she and Chika weren’t meshing at all threw her for a loop. They had a tough time even keeping a basic rhythm together. They were totally out of sync.

“S-Sorry You, I guess I’m just used to doing it with Riko,” Chika said through deep breaths. It felt like they had been practicing the same moves over and over again for hours.

“It’s alright. I should be able to get this quicker,” You said, and she meant that. Usually things like this were easy for her to pick up on. Even if it hadn’t been Chika she would’ve been dancing with, You was automatically a good choice to fill Riko’s slot because of how good she was at picking up choreography.

But this time was different. Despite how hard she was trying, You just couldn’t get a hang of Riko’s part. And every time she messed up, it was like she could feel Chika wishing that it was Riko instead of You.

_I need to get out of my head, _You thought, frustrated.

“Hey, you guys are getting there,” Kanan said, although the blue-haired girl wasn’t so sure if she meant it herself.

“This isn’t going how I anticipated,” Mari admitted with a frown.

“There’s definitely something off here,” Kanan said. “Alright, you two, back to it!”

Dia watched You intently as she and Chika began dancing again. She could tell that something was wrong with the diver, and it didn’t take her long to piece together what the issue was.

_She’s worried that Chika will think she’s worse than Riko._

It wasn’t a shocking revelation, at least to Dia. She had been in that position before of constantly feeling like Kanan and Mari were leaving her behind.

Those things didn’t bug her now, but they sure did when she was younger. And since Riko had come into You’s life so suddenly, totally wrecking her normalcy, Dia could understand the girl’s frustrations.

After going through the routine, Chika’s phone started ringing.

“It’s probably my mom,” Chika said as she stumbled tiredly over to her bag. Her eyes lit up when she realized who it was. “Oh, it’s Riko!”

Chika immediately picked up the phone, and everyone looked on eagerly, wondering how Riko was doing.

Dia, though, kept looking over at You, who was still trying to catch her breath. That shouldn’t be. You was always the fastest to bounce back, except maybe after Kanan.

Everyone took their turn speaking to Riko briefly on the phone.

“Hey, you want to talk to Riko, You?” Chika asked, bringing the phone over to the gray-haired girl.

“Yeah, for sure!” You chirped, grabbing the phone and bringing it to her ear. She frowned to find that the line was dead. “Hey, did she hang up?”

Chika frowned. “Huh?” She took her phone back to see that it had died. “Aw balls, it died! Sorry You.”

You shook her head. “No, it’s totally fine! I can just call Riko later.”

“Yeah, I bet she’d appreciate that!” Chika said.

They continued to proceed with the lackluster training for another good half an hour with much result, but Dia could have sworn she noticed it.

You’s lower lip tremble.

“Ah, I thought that Chika and You would have done swimmingly together,” Mari said before taking a sip of her ice coffee. The third years had gone to a café after practice. It had initially been for the purpose of catching up, but the hiccup in practice that day seemed to be the forefront of the conversation.

“Yeah, me too. They’re so close,” Kanan said, rubbing her temples. “I just can’t wrap my head around it. You’s good at choreo. This should be a cinch for her.”

Dia wasn’t surprised that Mari and Kanan hadn’t realized the reasons for You’s actions. You was excellent at concealing her emotions, but once Dia hazarded a guess at the truth, it was easy to see right through You’s façade.

“I think she’s jealous,” Dia finally suggested.

“Of me?” Mari asked.

Dia rolled her eyes. “No, not you. Of Riko.”

“Riko?” Kanan echoed, before realization settled on her face. “Ah, that makes total sense.”

Mari leaned against the back of her seat, frowning.

“Shoot, I thought that might be the case, but I didn’t want it to be true,” Mari said. “That just means things are a hundred times messier than they already are.”

“I can’t help but feel bad for You, though,” Kanan said. “I mean, Riko swooped in so suddenly.”

“She probably feels like Riko stole Chika from her,” Dia said.

“But her and Riko seem to get along so well?” Mari pointed out. “There doesn’t seem to be any bad blood between them. At least, not on the surface.”

“They’re both good kids. In a different circumstance they’d be the best of friends,” Kanan said. “I just think this was a wrong place, wrong time scenario.”

“Yikes,” Mari said and then took a sip of her drink.

“I’d like to talk to Watanabe,” Dia said. “I think I could get through to her.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kanan agreed with a smile. “She probably just needs to get it off her chest.”

“Or maybe Dia just wants to spend time with the rebellious You~”

Dia flushed. These comments about her and You were getting more and more frequent. And it wasn’t just coming from Mari.

“That’s c-certainly not it!” Dia objected, and she was being honest. She didn’t have feelings for You. Obviously. She just respected her as a peer. The two also shared many similarities, so it was hard not to sympathize with her. But she didn’t have feelings for You.

“Whatever you say,” Kanan said. “Just be careful how you go about it, okay? You don’t really have the tendency to be subtle.”

“I can be subtle!” Dia said.

Mari and Kanan exchanged a look, and Dia groaned into her hand. She hated it when they did that.

“I can,” she said, except this time with less resolve.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out,” Mari said with a shrug.

Dia pouted as Kanan and Mari shared a giggle at her misfortune, but she knew that they were just messing with her.

Even so, she was aware that they weren’t necessarily wrong either. She was going to be treading dangerous waters, and this conversation could affect her and You’s relationship permanently. 

You groaned into her pillow for the umpteenth time that night. Her practice with Chika had been an absolute fail, and that was essentially the worst case scenario.

How could Riko and do it and she could not? Everyone knew she was a more skilled dancer than the redhead, and it wasn’t like the footwork was rocket science.

_It’s not like it’s Riko’s fault… _You thought to herself, but she couldn’t get rid of the irrational anger she felt towards the other girl. Why did she have such a great ‘connection’ with Chika that only they could do that stupid dance routine? You just wanted to bang her head against the wall repeatedly.

A knock at her bedroom door stopped that line of thought, and she looked up from her pillow curiously.

“Hello?”

“You?” It was her mom. “There’s someone at the door here for you.”

“Tell them I’m busy,” You said, trying to keep the sadness out of her tone. It was probably Yoshiko. The fallen angel sometimes swung by to play video games, but usually she texted prior to her arrival.

“She says she won’t take no for an answer,” her mom replied. You rolled her eyes.

“Fine, I’m coming,” You said. Why did someone have to bother her on today of all days? Any other day and she would be grateful for some company. But she just wanted to be alone.

You exited her room and headed towards the front door, rubbing her eyes to try to liven herself up a little.

“Listen, Yoshiko, I’m not really in the-Dia?” You was shocked to find the student council president at the door.

“Hi Watanabe,” Dia said. “May we talk?”

You fought the surprise off of her face. Having Dia standing outside her door made her feel weirdly naked. She looked down at herself; she had dressed into her pajamas, whereas Dia was wearing nice clothing, and she felt a weird desperation to change as fast she could.

“U-Um, yeah, sure,” You said. “Come in.”

Dia stepped in, dusting her shoes off on the mat before she slipped them off and placed them nicely next to You’s sneakers. Her eyes flickered about the room as she did so, and You swallowed under her analyzing gaze.

“You have a lovely home,” Dia said.

“Thanks,” You said, her desire to please Dia overriding her confusion as to why Dia was there in the first place. “Would you like some tea? Or coffee? I think we have some pop in the back…”

“Tea is fine, thank you,” Dia said with careful manners. You nodded robotically, directing Dia to the living room while she went into the kitchen to go prepare the tea.

“Who’s the pretty girl?” You’s mom asked with a wink, and You wanted to die right at that moment.

“Shhh, mom!” You whispered harshly, her eyes peering to see if Dia had caught what her mom had said. “She’s a part of the School Idol club.”

“Oh, I see. Well, she seems nice,” her mom said with a smile.

_You don’t know the half of it, _You thought begrudgingly as she poured the tea into some cups.

“I’ll be going for a walk, so you two don’t have too much fun,” You’s mom said with a wink before she headed towards the door.

“Don’t wink like that mom!”

“It was nice meeting you, Dia! Make yourself at home, and don’t be afraid to give You a little smack if she misbehaves!”

You blanched as Dia nodded solemnly as if the advice hadn’t been weird.

“It was nice to meet you too, Mrs. Watanabe,” Dia said with a polite nod.

“Oh yes, very nice that you two got to meet,” You said quickly as she all but shoved her mother out of the house. “Have a lovely walk, mom!”

You shut the door before her mom could say anything back. She chuckled awkwardly once she realized Dia was looking at her.

“Moms, am I right?” she said dumbly. She then darted towards the kitchen, preventing Dia from replying.

She grabbed the two cups of tea and carried them carefully into the living room. She didn’t know why she was so nervous; she had never been like this around Dia at school. Sure, she had avoided Dia at school, but that came from the fear of being chewed out by her. She presumed that Dia hadn’t come into her home to scold her.

Unless she had. Which, really, shouldn’t have come as such a surprise.

But there was something weirdly intimate about Dia being in her house that took it out of a school-friend context. This intimacy, that was probably entirely one-sided on You’s end, was intensified by the fact that nobody else was home.

“Here,” You said as she set the cup down on a coaster in front of Dia. You set herself down on the other side of the table. “Oh, shoot, I forgot cream and sugar. I can go grab some if you want-“

“It’s okay Watanabe, I like mine the way it is,” Dia said.

You internally sighed, wishing she could calm down the racing speed of her heart. Why was she freaking out so bad? It made no sense.

“S-So,” You said as she watched Dia take a sip of her tea, praying inwardly that she liked it. “What brings you here, prez?”

“There’s something we really need to discuss,” Dia said.

“Well I’d hope that you didn’t come here just to drink the tea,” You joked. She swallowed when Dia’s mouth didn’t even twitch. “Alright, hit me with it prez. Clearly something’s going on.”

“It’s about what happened today at practice.”

Those words were like a wave of dread swallowing You up. She had just gotten that awful memory out of her head only for Dia to bring it back up. She should have known that Dia hadn’t come for a friendly chat.

“I should have known,” You said, now feeling cross. “Fine. What do you have to say about it?”

Dia didn’t look bothered by You’s shift in tone, and that only proved to annoy You more.

“I want to find out what the real problem is,” Dia said. “I don’t think the issue here is your dancing. There’s another reason why you and Chika couldn’t fall into a rhythm.”

You chewed her bottom lip, eyeing Dia’s blank gaze steadily. Whatever was on the president’s mind, she wasn’t going to let You in on it.

“I just had a bad day, okay?” You said, crossing her arms over her chest like a stubborn child. “Not going to lie, I’m not really in the mood to talk about it. It was kind of a train wreck.”

“It certainly was,” Dia agreed with another sip of tea, and You rolled her eyes.

“Ah, that makes me feel a thousand times better. Thanks,” You said gruffly. “Did you just come here to rub in my face how bad today went? Because you’re already doing a pretty good job.”

“I know that you are jealous of Riko and Chika’s relationship,” Dia said bluntly, and You’s heart stopped.

If You had felt naked before, she truly felt vulnerable now. It felt like Dia had just ripped off her outer layer like a band aid, and now she was nothing but stinging flesh. She wanted desperately to cover up, but the way Dia was staring her down kept her locked in place.

“H-How did you know about that?” You asked. Did she see them kissing too? The two of them hadn’t outright come out and said that they were together.

“Gauging by the way you’ve been acting, it wasn’t hard to piece together,” Dia said. You had a half a mind to be impressed. Maybe Dia’s sleuthing skills weren’t so bad.

You sighed. “Yeah, I saw them kissing the other day.”

Dia’s eyes bulged at that comment.

“P-Pardon me?” Dia said, suddenly losing her cool composure. You frowned.

“Yeah, they were kissing when we were out at Chika’s house,” You said, wondering why Dia found that so shocking.

“They’re together?!” Dia pretty much shrieked. You winced at the loud noise, but to be honest, she had learned to adapt to the Kurosawa sisters’ random screaming.

“Yeah. Didn’t you just say that you knew that?”

“I knew that you were jealous of them, but I didn’t realize they were d-d-dating!” Dia said, her cheeks flushing a deep scarlet. “Oh my god, how shameless!”

“It’s not really that big of a deal. Well, I guess it kind of is-Hey, stop freaking out about it already!” You said as she noticed Dia’s cheeks grow redder and redder.

“How could I possibly miss this?” Dia muttered to herself quickly. “Dating within a School Idol group only leads to destruction! I couldn’t stop Kanan and Mari, but this could have been prevented!”

“Aren’t you being a tad bit dramatic?” You asked.

“I think you’re the one being too calm, Watanabe!” Dia said sharply, pointing an accusatory finger at You. “Your likes wouldn’t understand, of course.”

“My likes?” You repeated.

“Yes, your likes. Just look at all the Valentine’s chocolate you get. Of course romance doesn’t bother you. But it can cause separations in our group!”

You’s brow creased. “How could you possibly know how much chocolate I get?”

“How could I k-know?” Dia said, blanching. “I have good observational skills, is all! Anyways, we’re getting off track here! So are Chika and Riko really an item?”

You shrugged. “I guess so. I haven’t exactly asked them about it, but the fact that they were, I don’t know, _kissing _seems to prove it.”

“How despicable,” Dia said with a steadfast shake of her head. “Anyways, let’s talk about why I’m here.”

“Finally,” You muttered before taking a sip of her tea that had cooled down over the course of the discussion.

“No sass. As I was saying, I know that you are jealous of their relationship. Ignoring whether they are intimate or not, their friendship has been bothering you for a while, hasn’t it?”

You pursed her lip, wondering if she wanted to out and be honest of her feelings with Dia of all people. But the truth was that, even though the two butted heads, they did have something of a strong connection.

“I guess it has,” You said quietly, having a hard time admitting it aloud.

She half-expected Dia to ask her to repeat what she said, but Dia merely nodded instead.

“I understand. It’s tough when someone comes into your life and ruins your routine,” Dia said. “Especially since Chika is your best friend.”

“Like you would know,” You found herself snapping.

Dia, surprisingly, just smiled.

“I would. It happened to me, after all,” Dia said. You looked puzzled, so Dia continued to explain, “When Mari first moved here, her and Kanan became inseparable. For a long time it had just been Kanan and I, so the sudden change had been a tough pill to swallow.”

“R-Really?” You said. It was hard to believe that she shared something with the student council president.

“As a kid I didn’t notice as much, but when we got into high school it became more obvious how close the two were. I couldn’t help but be jealous,” Dia said. Her voice was clear, but her face was a little tense, and You could tell that it really had been hard on her. “So you don’t have to feel like you have to keep your feelings bottled up. It’s okay to feel that way.”

“I guess so,” You said, wrapping her fingers around her teacup to grasp some of its warmth. “It’s just annoying. It’s like Chika doesn’t even care.” You said that with surprising acidity, but Dia didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“I get that. I felt like Kanan didn’t care about my feelings, either. Especially when it came to the School Idol club,” Dia said. “But you have to know that Chika doesn’t have bad intentions.”

“I don’t care if her intentions are good! She’s still being a total jerk,” You said, looking intently down at her tea as it swirled around the cup. “It’s not fair, Dia.”

“You’re right, it’s not fair,” Dia said.

“That’s not what you’re supposed to say!” You said sharply, her eyes darting up to meet Dia’s. “You’re supposed to call me a baby, a coward. Tell me I’m overreacting.”

“But you aren’t,” Dia said. “You’re allowed to feel this way, You. Don’t deny yourself of your feelings.”

“But I don’t want to feel like this. It sucks,” You said, her grip tightening around the cup. “This would have never happened if we didn’t form the stupid School Idol club. Then we wouldn’t need a stupid composer and do stupid dance moves and have stupid problems. But here we are!” You laughed sardonically. “I just wish Riko would go away!”

You felt immediately guilty after the last sentence left her tongue. Riko wasn’t doing anything wrong. On the other hand, Riko had been nothing but kind to her the entire time.

“Ah, this sucks!” You yelled, releasing the tea cup and slamming her fists onto the table. “This sucks, this sucks, this sucks, this sucks…”

You continued to repeat the mantra as she slammed her fists onto the table, ignoring the searing pain in her hands as she beat along to the melancholic rhythm of her heart. As long as Riko was around, Chika and You would never be as close as they once were. But she couldn’t hate Riko no matter how hard she tried. No matter how much she wanted too.

You didn’t even notice as tears started spilling out of her eyes. All she was intent on was beating the feelings out of herself. She just had to grow numb to this pain.

Suddenly something grabbed onto her hands, preventing her from hitting the table, and You looked behind her to see Dia hovering over her, grabbing onto her wrists.

“Stop, You!” Dia said, pulling You’s hands away from the table.

You made a face as she tried to fight against Dia’s grip. For a girl who didn’t do any sports, she was surprisingly strong.

“Let me go, Dia!” You shouted as she tried to wrestle her hands away. “Let me go!”

“No, you need to stop this now!” Dia barked with just as much force. “I’m not going to watch you do this to yourself!”

“Dia, please!” You said as tears poured down her cheeks. “Just let me go!”

“No!” Dia said. “This isn’t worth it, You! It’s okay to be sad!”

“No it’s not!” You sobbed, feeling the fight drain from her limbs as Dia continued to overpower her. “I don’t want to feel this way anymore.”

“I understand, but if you ignore it it’ll only fester to the point where it’ll destroy you!”

“Then let it destroy me,” You muttered. “I don’t care.”

“I do!”

You’s breath hitched. They had wrestled to the point that Dia had You pinned against the table, preventing the girl from hurting herself any further. Dia was hovering over her, tears prickling at the corner of her eyes as well.

Why was she crying?

“If you’re sad, You, I care. I care a lot!” Dia said.

“W-Why?” You asked.

“What do you mean why? Because you matter to me,” Dia said. “So how about you stop being so stupid and selfish for a moment and let yourself feel something?!”

You let Dia’s words wash over her like heavy rain after a drought. They flooded through her veins, swallowing her thoughts and emotions until she was deep under the water.

And then You started sobbing heavily, and she collapsed into Dia’s embrace.

It felt like finally coming home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aye-aye, my friend is probably the best episode title. don't you think?


	13. It's Time to Fly

“Woo-hoo! We made it through!” Chika cheered once the results loaded on the laptop.

Relief and happiness filled the room as the girls celebrated their success. Although there was initial concern over You and Chika’s duet, the two were able to pull it together after a good heart-to-heart and a surprise phone call from Riko.

You smiled as she fell into one of the chairs. Everything that was causing friction in her life was finally settling down. Her relationship with Chika was back where it used to be, she and Riko were on good terms, and Aqours had made it past the preliminaries. 

She couldn’t help but catch her gaze drift over to Dia, who was clearly upset over something Mari had said to her while Kanan laughed in the background. After Dia had come over to her house to help her out, You couldn’t get thoughts out of the student council president out of her head.

“Such success isn’t uncommon to me, but I’m happy you commoners were able to experience it as well,” Yoshiko said, though the others could tell that she was just as happy as everyone else.

“I say we hold a vote to kick Yoshiko out of the School Idol club,” Hanamaru said. Yoshiko glared at her.

“What, no! And it’s Yohane,” Yoshiko cried.

“Don’t worry Yoshiko, I’d vote for you to stay,” Ruby said reassuringly. Yoshiko, instead of looking happy by this news, instead laughed creepily.

“Of course. I’d expect nothing less from my little demon,” Yoshiko said, and then she blushed. “T-Thanks Ruby.”

“Despite our success in the preliminaries, I’m sad to say that we still have yet to receive any new applicants,” Dia said with a frown. 

“Wow, way to be a Debby Downer,” Yoshiko said. 

“Shut it, Yoshiko,” You said. 

Yoshiko looked appalled. “You’re usually on my side!” 

“I don’t get it,” Chika admitted. “We’re getting so many views and comments, but the amount of applicants hasn’t changed.” 

“It’s nice that we’re gaining publicity, but it’s going to take more than that to attract students to our school,” Kanan said. 

“We have to be the very best~” Mari said. 

“I always thought that too. Winning Love Live has been my goal this entire time, and yet I feel like there’s something we’re missing,” Chika said. “I mean, that’s what µ's did. But maybe there was just something special about them.” 

Those words seemed to hang heavy in the clubroom. If that line of thinking was true, if µ's just had a sort of magic that was impossible to replicate, then they would never be able to get new applicants for Uranohoshi. 

“Why don’t we go to Tokyo again?” Ruby suggested. All eyes landed on her in an instant, as she was the one who had broken the silence, but unlike usual, she didn’t yip or yelp. “Maybe we can learn something there.” 

A grin crept onto Chika’s face, and she darted over to Ruby in an instant, pinching her cheeks like she normally did. 

“Oh Ruby, you’re as precious as always!” Chika chirped as Ruby tried to push her off. 

“Unhand Ruby this instant!” Dia said. 

“Alright, alright, don’t freak out,” Chika said as she pulled her hands away from Ruby, albeit reluctantly. “A lot has changed since our last appearance in Tokyo. Maybe going there again can help us find some inspiration.” 

You saluted. “Aye aye, captain!” 

“Sounds good to me! I’d love to get my hands on some more merchandise!” Yoshiko said excitedly. 

“When you say merchandise, I wish you meant something normal like keychains,” Hanamaru said. 

“I am normal, Zuramaru!” 

“Tokyo sounds like fun,” Kanan said. “We weren’t with you guys the first time around, so going as nine sounds like a good bonding experience.” 

“I’d like to go shopping too!” Mari said happily. Kanan smiled. 

“Of course you would, Mari.”

Since the group wasn’t set to meet up with Riko for another couple of hours, everyone had gone their separate ways to do some tourist-y activities. 

“Why did I agree to this?” Hanamaru muttered under her breath as she and Yoshiko walked through some demonic store. It wasn’t the same fallen angel one from last time, but Hanamaru guessed that the two probably looked about the same. The walls were painted black, all the merchandise were things like summoning books, familiar chants, and other things that Hanamaru didn’t understand. 

Hanamaru wasn’t necessarily a scaredy cat, but things like this did have a tendency to creep her out. She hung a little closer to Yoshiko than usual, trying to keep her eyes off of the strange wares. 

“Jeez, I have most of this stuff already,” Yoshiko said crossly. Hanamaru couldn’t believe that she found the store normal. 

“How could you possibly own most of this?” Hanamaru asked, shocked. 

“As a natural fallen angel, a lot of this stuff comes naturally to me,” Yoshiko said coyly before she sighed. “And a lot of odd jobs.” 

“Yeah, I feel like this stuff costs a lot,” Hanamaru said as she stepped towards a crystal ball. It seemed interesting enough, but she paled once her eyes landed on the price tag. “It would take my entire months savings to buy this one item!” 

“It’s the price of a fallen angel,” Yoshiko said. Hanamaru wasn’t so sure if it was worth it. 

The duo turned a corner, and Hanamaru shrieked when she saw a monster. She immediately ducked behind Yoshiko, her heart thudding rapidly in her chest. 

_ I should have never come in here!  _

“Whoa, Zuramaru, it’s just a cardboard cut out!” Yoshiko said, her eyes darting towards the cardboard cut out of one of her favourite characters in a popular anime she used to watch. 

“Z-Zura?” Hanamaru peered out behind Yoshiko’s back, relieved to find that it was, indeed, just cardboard. It was so dark in there that she was surprised Yoshiko was able to tell the difference. “But it looks just like the real thing.” 

“Hardly,” Yoshiko mumbled. “If this place is creeping you out we can go somewhere else, you know? I don’t mind.” 

“N-No, you wanted to come in here, so we’ll be done once you’re done,” Hanamaru said, her eyes doing a quick scan of the area to clarify that there really  _ weren’t  _ any monsters. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” 

Yoshiko crossed her arms over her chest. “When you say, ‘don’t worry about me,’ you do realize it only makes me worry more, right?” 

Hanamaru was caught off guard by that. That was a surprisingly honest, heart-warming thing to say. And it wasn’t covered up by a weird fallen angel joke. 

“I don’t want to make you worry, zura, but I really don’t mind being in here, Yoshiko,” Hanamaru insisted. Yoshiko had been excited to come here during the whole trip to Tokyo, and Hanamaru wasn’t going to be the one taking it from her. 

“Fine, if you say so,” Yoshiko eventually relented, before she reached over and grabbed an unsuspecting Hanamaru’s hand. “Here, if we hold hands, you have no reason to be scared.” 

“Y-Yoshiko?” Hanamaru said, her cheeks warming from the contact. Their hands seemed to fit perfectly together, like a pair of gloves. 

Yoshiko didn’t reply. She just continued to lead Hanamaru through the store, asking the brunette’s opinion of anything she found remotely interesting. Hanamaru gabbed along with her, but she couldn’t help but be aware of their interlaced hands. 

_ Jeez, I gotta get over this! Yoshiko probably doesn’t care at all,  _ Hanamaru thought, wishing her heart would just calm down. Being in the creepy store was bad enough, and now the slightest of touch from Yoshiko sent her heart into overdrive. 

Unbeknownst to her, Yoshiko was internally freaking out just as badly. 

_ Why did I take her hand?!  _

“How does this look?” Mari said as she pulled away the curtain, revealing the cute summer dress to an oblivious Kanan who was staring off in the distance. “Hey, Kanan!” 

Kanan blinked, reentering reality as she looked over Mari’s dress. 

“It’s nice,” Kanan said absentmindedly, feeling drained. Shopping always sucked the life out of her. There were many things she preferred doing (like diving, for example), but since Mari seemed to love it so much, and since she could afford pretty much anything she wanted, a shopping excursion with her always tripled in length. 

Mari pouted. “What do you mean, it’s nice? Give me something to work with here!” Kanan was always like this when they were shopping, but now that they were dating, Mari had hoped that Kanan would be more invested in the whole thing. 

“It looks good on you,” Kanan said with a shrug. “What more do you want me to say?” 

Mari scoffed. “You’ve said that about everything I’ve put on in the past half an hour!” 

Kanan sighed. Had she really been there for half an hour already? What was taking Mari so long?

“It’s because you look good in anything you put on, Mari,” Kanan said sincerely. “I’m not really good with fashion, but you could wear a trash bag and still look beautiful.” 

A scarlet blush exploded on Mari’s cheeks, who, in her anger, was totally caught off by Kanan’s comment. Without even replying, she slid the curtain shut, leaving Kanan standing out there with some of the other clothes Mari had tried on in her hands. 

_ Oh god, now what?  _ Kanan thought. Mari was right, Kanan had been saying the same thing over and over again. But it wasn’t like she didn’t mean it. Mari really  _ did  _ look good in pretty much anything. 

It wasn’t like Kanan was all that crazy about fashion, either. A typical outfit for her was a sweatshirt and jeans. 

Kanan straightened out, preparing herself to be more invested in Mari’s next outfit choice. Mari wouldn’t have asked her to come along if she didn’t want her help, so it was wrong of her to space out every couple of minutes. 

“Alright, I’m sorry Mari. I’ll pay closer attention,” Kanan called from outside the changing stall. She was met with no reply, and Kanan had a feeling that Mari was probably pretty upset with her.  _ Maybe I’ll take her for ice cream after. That’ll cheer her up.  _

As Kanan considered ways to treat her girlfriend, the curtain slid open for, what felt like the thousandth time. Kanan looked up, expecting another summer dress, or something along that lines, but she was met with some entirely different. 

“You like it, amore mio?” 

Mari was dressed in absolutely nothing but black, lacy lingerie, and Kanan could feel her eyes bulging out of her face. Half of her wanted to close the curtain as fast as she could, while the other half of her couldn’t help but stare. 

“Si.” 

“So, like, does your sister have a crush on You, or something?” Chika asked as she examined a sweater she drew off the rack. After she and Ruby had gone off to look at some school idol merchandise, the two had looped around and decided to stop in a local clothing store. 

Ruby flushed at the question. “Oh, I-I don’t know, I feel like I shouldn’t say.” 

“Don’t worry, you can trust me Ruby,” Chika said with a wink. 

Ruby was internally doubtful. Trust Chika? The girl who grabbed her face half the time they interacted? Plus, Chika had the personality befitting of a blabber mouth. Some part of her felt like telling Chika was essentially telling You as well. 

On the other hand, she felt bad for doubting Chika’s character like that. Sure, the cheek-grabbing was annoying, but Chika had been nothing but nice to her. 

“Dia hadn’t confided in me about it, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Ruby explained as she pulled a skirt off the rack. “But, I’ve had my suspicions for a while.” 

Chika’s face lighted up comically. 

“Ooh, juicy!” Chika said with a toothy grin. “Detective Ruby on the case, I see?” 

“H-Hardly. But, Dia talks about her all the time, so it was hard for me not to get a little curious,” Ruby said. Dia used to bring You up in vain all the time, saying ‘Watanabe this’ and ‘Watanabe that,’ but now things had taken a turn for the positive. 

Despite Dia’s change in the way she referred to You, Ruby suspected that her older sister likely had a crush on the diver for a while. 

Chika laughed giddily. “Oh, that’s just so cute! The stuck-up, good girl student council president with the rebellious Yousoro! Not that You is all that rebellious, really.” 

“They do make for a pretty good match, though,” Ruby said. 

“You and You could be sisters one day!” 

“I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself,” Ruby deadpanned. “Anyways, I grabbed some clothes. Want to go to the changing room?” 

Chika linked their arms together. “Yeah, let’s go!” 

Ruby always had a hard time making friends. Her sister had been pretty much her only true friend her entire life. Joining the School Idol club had changed that for her. She, Yoshiko and Hanamaru had all become really close, and now she had upperclassmen to look up too. 

They were all pretty cool, but she had to admit, Chika was probably her favourite. 

“I can’t believe you’re really into all of this stuff,” You said as Dia fanatically sifted through µ's merchandise. There were bobbleheads, stickers, sweatshirts, sweatpants, t-shirts, badges, pins, pretty much anything you could name on the top of your head. The fact that the whole store was dedicated entirely to µ's made You feel a little dizzy. 

Dia, on the other hand, was having the best day of her life. She was basically enveloped in the people she had looked up to for most of her high school life. 

“Oh my god, Eli is so cool!” Dia chirped as she picked up a badge of the blonde girl. You looked over curiously. 

“Oh yeah, wasn’t she a student council president too?” You asked. 

Dia blinked in surprise. “Yeah, she was. I’m surprised you knew that.” 

“I did a little research about popular idol groups when Chika and I were just starting,” You explained. “Did she inspire you to become the student council president?” 

Dia studied the badge as she replied to You. “Mm, maybe. To be honest, I always really liked being in a position of authority-” 

“I’m aware of that,” You said. 

“-so I probably would have felt a pull to join the student council anyways. But Eli did motivate me,” Dia said. “Sometimes it was hard. A lot of people look up to you as the president, but a lot of people get annoyed by you, too. Finding a balance is tough sometimes, and I would often care a little too much about what people thought about me.” 

You felt a little baffled as Dia delved into her explanation. She hadn’t realized that being the student council president had taken such a toll on Dia. Additionally, You had been one of the students who had caused trouble for Dia. 

“But I’m happy I continued to pursue it. I like serving the school, and it makes me happy when the student body is happy.” Dia picked up a plush of one of the other µ's members, You didn’t know her name, and smiled contentedly. “To make people smile. I guess that’s an idol’s dream, too?” 

You licked her lips, her heart catching at the genuine glee on Dia’s face. This was a look that she didn’t wear often, but You caught glimpses of it. It especially seemed to come up when they were performing. 

Who knew that such a serious girl could have such kind-hearted motivations? 

“Sorry, I’ve gotten a little off track here, haven’t I?” Dia said, setting down the plush. “You wanted to go look at uniforms, right? We can go there next.” 

You furrowed her brow. “Are you sure you’re done in here? You haven’t even bought anything yet.” 

“Yeah, I already have a lot of µ's stuff, I really don’t need anymore at this point. Plus, I don’t want to use up all of our allotted time,” Dia said, her eyes flickering towards her wristwatch. 

You’s eyes darted towards the plush Dia had been holding before they landed back on Dia. 

“Okay, sure. Do you mind if I go to the bathroom real quick, though? I’ll meet you outside.” 

“Sounds fine to me,” Dia said. 

You watched as Dia carefully exited the store before her eyes fell back onto the plush. Dia really wasn’t the girl she thought she was, was she? 

At Chika’s request, Aqours grouped up together at UTX. Riko would be joining them as well, and the girls were all excited to see her. 

“Riko!” Chika cheered in delight when she noticed the redhead walking over. She jogged over to her and leapt into her arms. “I missed you!” 

“Jeez, do you have to make such a scene?” Riko said, wrapping her arms around Chika’s waist. “I missed you too, dumbie.” 

All of the other members greeted Riko separately. 

“Great to have you back, zura!” 

“I h-hope your piano competition went well!” 

“Ah, my dear Lili has returned to our realm-Ouch, Zuramaru!” 

“I heard you killed the piano competition, Riko. Congrats!” 

“I would expect nothing less from our charming composer~” 

“Riko, I expect that you represented yourself appropriately and performed to the best of your ability!” 

Riko finally stopped in front of You, who was scratching the back of her neck bashfully. 

“H-Hey, Riko. I missed you too. I bet you smashed that piano competition though. Ha-ha, anyways…” 

Riko wrapped her arms around You and pulled her in for a tight hug, catching the sailor off guard who stumbled into the embrace before she reciprocated. 

“I missed you too, You,” Riko whispered, holding onto her friend tightly. Like Chika, You was a friend she cherished deeply. The fact that their friendship was in turmoil, even though it was just momentarily, had been really heartbreaking for her. 

“Well that’s cute,” Kanan said with a pleased smile. 

“Look at You! She’s as red as a tomato!” Mari commented with a giggle. 

“No she’s not...She is? W-Watanabe, explain yourself!” 

You eventually pulled out of the hug, relief washing through her. She had been worried that things between her and Riko might become awkward, but it looked like things were going to be okay. 

“That was touching.” 

All the girls looked over to the new voice, and most of them were shocked to find Saint Snow standing there. 

“S-Saint Snow?” Ruby said in surprise, hiding behind her sister. Saint Snow really frightened her. It was probably because they sang rock tunes. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Riko asked, surprised. 

“Why are you so surprised? We were formally invited, after all,” Sarah said with a grin, motioning towards Chika. 

Everyone looked over at Chika, who smiled. 

“Yeah, it was me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long to update. ive been super busy. hope everyone is doing well :)


End file.
